Please Don't Say You Love Me
by TalisTheIntrovert
Summary: When Queen Rhea returns with her heart set on vengeance, Mon-El will finally find out what it takes to make Kara admit her feelings, and he won't like it. OR: the one where Kara gets tortured and Mon-El is heartbroken. TW: Torture, PTSD. Also other appearances from Arrowverse characters, because I was having so much fun writing this. :)
1. When You Look At Me Like That

**_"Please don't say you love me,_**  
 ** _cause I might not say it back,_**  
 ** _doesn't mean my heart's stopping skipping_**  
 ** _when you look at me like that...  
There's no need to worry when,  
You see just where we're at,  
Just please don't say you love me,  
'Cause I might not say it back." _**

**_Gabrielle Aplin_**

* * *

"Hey, so, you know I love Kara, right?"

Alex stopped mid step and Mon-El smacked into her, causing some members of the DEO to look up from their computers and others to subtly edge closer to eavesdrop. They were supposed to be keeping an eye on battle specs, but Supergirl seemed to have this particular foe handled.

"What?"

"You're… aware that I'm in love with your sister?" He shifted his weight from one side to the other as she turned and crossed her arms.

"Sure. I mean, it's pretty obvious that you _care_ about her." She said sceptically.

"No but… The day she broke up with me, I told her I loved her. And then she broke up with me. And I haven't really said it since, and she didn't say it back, but when she was in the musical trance the weird guy with the pocket square and the jazz hands said that the only way Iris and I could save Barry and Kara was with the power of love. Which, incidentally, Winn tells me is a great 80s pop anthem that I should add to my playlist." He stared at her expectantly and she squared herself up to him a little.

"You told her you loved her?" Alex was surprised; Kara hadn't mentioned that.

"Yeah. But…"

"But then you broke up and she never said it back and so you're, what? Worried?"

"No. Yes. I just… I don't know if I can start saying it again now or not, because it might make things weird. And I _really_ want to start saying it more. As many times in a day as I possibly can, between world-ending catastrophes and job-hunting. I don't… I don't care if she doesn't say it back – at this point I'm just glad she _took_ me back – but I want to say it."

"Okay. So, hang on, let me see if I have this right: you love Kara, and you want to tell her that you love her?"

"Yes." He rocked back on his heels.

"So – forgive me if I'm missing something – but why are you talking to me about it? Just go tell her."

"Ah. Yes. Well–"

"You're scared." Alex realised. He didn't say anything, but his face gave it away and she uncrossed her arms and gripped his shoulders, "Mon-El. She _cares_ about you. She's not going to dump you for no reason, and that reason is definitely not going to be because you told her you _love_ her. You're right, she might not say it back, but… that's just who she is – she's so guarded emotionally, because she's scared of getting hurt, but just because she doesn't say something, doesn't mean it isn't there."

"What, what do you mean?" He tried to squash down the hope that had risen in his chest.

"Look, last year, Kara thought she was gonna die. Right before you arrived, there was a huge 'world-ending catastrophe' and she believed that in saving all of us, she would have to sacrifice herself. She almost did." Alex let her hands drop and Mon-El stopped fidgeting and stood up straighter, listening intently, "She didn't tell _anyone._ She _knew_ and she said goodbye to all of us, without ever actually saying goodbye. Kara doesn't… Uh… She, she told us how much she cared about us all; that was how she said goodbye, by expressing her feelings."

"So the only way I'll know if she loves me back is if she thinks she's gonna die?" He raised his eyebrows.

"Don't be ridiculous Mon-El, of _course_ she lo–" Alex caught herself: that wasn't for her to say, "Kara _does_ talk about her feelings sometimes, you have to know that: if she didn't, you wouldn't be dating. But she just… she needs a little more time than the rest of us."

"Okay. Okay, I can do this. I can tell her. On second thoughts, maybe I'll take it to the grave?"

"Take what to the grave?" Kara's voice rang out across the DEO and he spun to face her. She barely looked ruffled from the fight with the bank robbers, and her face brightened yet further when Mon-El met her eyes.

"Uh, the fact I, uh, really like those cheesy rom-coms I watch with you, even though human males prefer movies about baseball and wars."

"Oh! Yeah, you're right, don't tell anyone that, especially Jimmy and Winn." Kara laughed and pecked his cheek, "Alex, how's your leg?"

"It's healing fine, but honestly I'm still kicking myself. I should have known better than to get involved in alien business. I cannot believe I got dragged into a bar brawl."

"Dragged? Looked more like you started it there Alex..." Mon-El trailed off as the two women glared, "but then again, I was only standing right next to you behind the bar, so what do I know?" He raised his hands in defeat and grinned, disappearing down a corridor.

"What were you actually talking about?" Kara asked.

"Uh, _you_ actually."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, he uh… he wanted my approval," _not exactly a lie,_ Alex told herself. She saw Winn spinning in his chair, waggling his eyebrows in her direction – of course he'd been listening – nothing ever stayed a secret in the DEO for long.

Kara laughed, "Really?"

Alex opened her mouth to answer but before she had a chance to say anything there was a loud yell and something smacked into the wall next to them. The figure stood and they realised it was one of the Daxam ship guards even as Mon-El and another guard came into view. He swung a punch, but the guard caught him in the gut with his staff and Mon-El doubled over, using that second to throw himself forward and drag the man to the ground, but then the other was on top of him, dragging him back. Kara sped forward and threw him off, reaching for Mon-El, but before he could regain his footing the guard beneath him clapped something on his wrist. He flinched and looked down and the guard pressed something on his staff.

"Kara!?" He tried to yank himself free but the guard stomped on his ankle and he dropped to the floor. The two of them faded up in the unmistakeable shimmer of the Daxam ship's teleportation beam and Kara missed them by a second.

"Mon-El!?"

Kara spun on her heel, furious, and punched the second guard, "What is going on? I thought you were going to leave us alone?"

He stumbled, "We have our orders."

"What orders?" She hit him again and he flew back into a computer desk, sending sparks flying and DEO agents scrambling out of the way.

"Queen Rhea ordered that the Crown Prince be returned to Daxam." The man gasped, holding his side.

"What?! Why would she do that? Lar Gand released him from his obligation!" She snapped his staff in half and threw the pieces across the floor.

"Lar Gand is dead. Long live Queen Rhea. The prince must be returned to take his rightful place on the throne." He stayed on the floor, not fighting back.

"Lar Gand is dead?" She towered over him and he nodded, cowering, "How?"

"We do not question Queen Rhea."

"What?! What the hell does _that_ mean?"

"We do not question Queen Rhea."

"Oh. Oh my god." The realisation hit Kara like a bullet train and she ran towards the balcony.

"Kara! Kara hang on, what's going on?" Alex yelled after her, cuffing the guard and giving him to some agents to take to a cell.

"Rhea killed Lar Gand because he let us go. She's going to take Mon-El back to Daxam by force." She looked at her sister with fury in her eyes, "I have to get him back."

"Okay, yes, you should definitely do that, but how about instead of flying directly at an impenetrable ship, you just use the handy portal?" Winn piped up, activating the archway. The room glowed purple and Kara's cape shifted a little.

Kara took a deep breath and tried to shake the rage out through her fingertips, "Okay. Okay, let's do this."

"Kara, think about this, she has _kryptonite_ and an army and you're going to walk directly onto her home turf." Alex said.

"She's right Kara, we need a plan." J'onn approached with his arms crossed.

"I have a plan." Kara blustered.

"Oh yeah, course. What is it?" Alex asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Punch Rhea in the face and get Mon-El back. See: plan. Now come on let's go!"

"Kara!" Alex yelled but Supergirl was already running into the portal. Alex rolled her eyes, "Well on the plus side, I'm the only one who hasn't been up there yet, so I guess it's my turn."

She stepped forward but the portal wouldn't let her pass through. It felt strangely solid.

"Winn, are you doing this?" She asked.

"No! I don't know what's happening, I punched in the coordinates, Kara went through fine, but then after she arrived it's like the ship, I dunno… it's like it disappeared from the radar. And you can't go through a portal if the location you're trying to reach doesn't let you," He shrugged, "Dobby doesn't want you to get to Hogwarts."

"What?" Alex said, "If you mean Queen Rhea, there is no _way_ she's Dobby – Umbridge, maybe."

"They've put shields up." J'onn said, trying to get them back on track, "Blockers, to stop the portal's signal. Kara is on her own."

"Shit," Alex said, "What are the odds that this was Rhea's plan all along?"

* * *

Kara appeared in a familiar place – the remnants of her last visit were gone, but the glass of the window was still missing where Mon-El had blown it out and the safety guard was still up, so she couldn't see through to the stars.

"Oh good, just who I was looking for." Queen Rhea's voice echoed around the empty room and Kara turned. Rhea pressed some buttons on a switch board and the room glowed green. Kara felt the radiation crawling through her veins and she dropped to her knees, suddenly exhausted.

"I had some repairs done, seeing as you so thoroughly trashed the place last time you visited." Rhea said, "Kryptonite in the walls. Not much, but definitely enough to stop _you._ Your friends can't get through either – it's just us girls."

"Where's Mon-El?"

"Oh, he's perfectly fine. He's in a nice comfortable cell, which he will remain in until we return to Daxam."

"He won't rule for you. He doesn't want to go back to the way things were." Kara said, feeling her strength ebbing away.

"Oh yes he will. He just needs a little… breaking. That's all."

"No, no please don't hurt him!"

Rhea laughed, "Please, I'm not going to hurt my son!" She advanced slowly, pulling a large kryptonite sword from her cloak, much bigger than the two Sai she'd lost, "I'm going to hurt _you._ "

She slammed the butt of the sword into Kara's face and she fell back, hitting the cold floor. Kara tried to stand but Rhea stabbed the knife down through her hand, pinning her to floor. She yelled in pain and kicked out, striking Rhea in the knee, but she didn't have any chance – Rhea stumbled but immediately rose up again, slapping Kara across the face, "When I'm finished with you, you're going to wish you'd died on Krypton." Something hit Kara from behind and she felt herself losing consciousness, even as two guards removed the sword from the floor and dragged her away.

* * *

Winn, Alex and J'onn were trying to hack back into the Daxamite ship.

"I thought you'd done this before?" Alex snapped.

"Yeah, I did, but unfortunately, Rhea thought ahead – she changed the system and double encrypted it. I can't get in."

"You're _going_ to get in, Winn. We have to, we've got to get her out."

"Alex–" J'onn tried, but she shook her head at him and he nodded and stayed silent.

"Oh! Hang on, I've got something!"

"What have you got?" J'onn asked.

"I've managed to get into the camera feed on the ship. Give me two seconds and I'll find Kara."

The screen lit up to reveal Rhea standing by herself, kryptonite sword in hand.

"Oh my god, is that Kara's blood?" Alex couldn't take her eyes off the sword, but Winn started flicking through cameras.

"There's Mon-El!" J'onn pointed.

Mon-El was in a cell with guards surrounding it, punching the walls and yelling. He was covered in bruises and seemed to be favouring his left leg.

"Can you patch into the audio feed?" J'onn asked.

"Is Darth Vader Luke's father?" Winn responded and brought up the audio.

"Mother!? Father?! What the HELL is going on!?" He kicked the bars and one of the soldiers stabbed at him with his staff, throwing him back.

"No Kara," Winn switched cameras again, still searching, until he found another cell further down. His heart dropped into his stomach, "Not good."


	2. How Long She Will Be Next To Me

_**In the end**_  
 _ **Everyone ends up alone**_  
 _ **Losing her**_  
 _ **The only one who's ever known**_  
 _ **Who I am, who I'm not, and who I wanna be**_  
 _ **No way to know**_  
 _ **How long she will be next to me**_

 _ **Lost and insecure**_  
 _ **You found me, you found me**_  
 _ **Lying on the floor**_  
 _ **Surrounded, surrounded**_  
 _ **Why'd you have to wait?**_  
 _ **Where were you, where were you?**_  
 _ **Just a little late**_  
 _ **You found me, you found me...**_

 _The Fray_

* * *

When she regained consciousness, she was in a cell with nth mental bars and there was a patch of kryptonite in the wall. Two guards stood watching her and she noticed a huge contraption between them, with wires that stretched into her cell. She didn't think much about it though because her head was sore and her hand was throbbing; she looked down to see a bandage wrapped around it, but it was still bleeding heavily, and she felt lightheaded.

"She's awake." She heard a guard say, and Rhea appeared, grinning.

"Good. Bring him through."

One of the men nodded and stepped out of view. Kara could hear someone yelling down the hallway and Mon-El appeared, struggling against three guards. His face was bruised and there were cuts on his arms and legs. When he saw her, his face dropped and he started fighting harder, thrashing against the sentries.

"Kara? Oh my god, Kara?!"

"Release him." Rhea said and the guards dropped their arms and stepped back. Mon-El ran forward and reached for her through the bars.

"Kara?" His voice was full of worry and she stood up shakily, touching his face to reassure him.

"I'm okay."

"You don't look okay." His eyes raked over her whole body, searching for more injuries.

"Neither do you." She responded, eyeing his bruises.

"I'm fine, it's not me I'm worried about." He murmured, cupping her face and brushing hair behind her ear, "You shouldn't have come after me, this is all my fault."

"I'm always going to come after you, Mon-El. And it's not your fault." She sighed and leant up against the bars, partially to be closer to him and partially because she didn't have the energy to stand, "It's gonna be okay."

"Ah, that's where you're wrong, Kara Zor-El. For you, at least, it's very much not going to be okay."

"Mother why are you doing this? Leave her alone, just send her back to Earth and take me with you, please, I'll do anything." Mon-El pleaded, facing her, but she just laughed.

"No, my son, we are past the point where you could have bargained your way out of this. Because of the actions you and your little girlfriend took, I was forced to kill my husband, in the best interest of Daxam. You will _both_ pay for that."

"What?" Mon-El's voice was so quiet it was almost inaudible and Kara gripped his hand through the bar with her good one, "You… you _killed_ my father?"

"Of course I did. After he let you go I couldn't let him continue to rule – his judgement was irreparably damaged – he would not have ruled the way we are meant to. He had become _weak._ "

"So you _murdered him_?" Mon-El's voice was much louder now and Kara squeezed his hand, but didn't say anything. He let go of her and stepped towards his mother, but two of the guards placed themselves in his way, "What, are you going to kill me to?"

"Mon-El, you're my son. I love you."

"That didn't stop you with my father!" He tried to get to her again, but the guards shoved him back and he glared through their barricade.

"No, Mon-El, I just need you to remember what it's like to be a true Daxamite. I need you to submit."

"If you let Kara go, I will."

"Ha. That didn't work last time. No, this time I have something much more _interesting_ planned."

"I don't like the sound of that." Kara muttered.

* * *

Alex opened the door to the cell and grabbed the man by his armour, yanking him up and shoving him back against the wall, "How do we get in?!"

"I will never betray the Queen."

She punched him, hard and when he dropped to the ground she caught him in the gut with a swift kick, "I'm asking nicely. You won't like it when J'onn asks."

"I will never betray the Queen."

"Okay. J'onn?" Alex stepped back and let the Martian Manhunter enter the cell. As she returned to Winn and the monitors, she heard the man screaming.

* * *

"This device," Rhea said, gesturing to the large contraption Kara had noticed earlier, "Is wired into the kryptonite in her cell, so she'll stay weak enough that the machine will work."

"What does it do?" Mon-El knew he didn't want to know the answer.

"It's a torture machine."

He was right.

She smiled, "The solution I poured into Kara's hand while she was unconscious is now running through her blood, sending signals back, and as long as the kryptonite stops her from healing and absorbing the emulsion, I can use this dial to cause her excruciating amounts of pain." Rhea revealed a sort of remote with buttons and dials.

"No, no, you're not torturing her!"

"That's the first thing you've said that makes any sense." Rhea said.

"What?"

"I won't be the one torturing her," she said, and threw the controller to him, "You will."

Mon-El couldn't help the small laugh that escaped his lips, "Excuse me? What is wrong with you, do you really think I'm going to torture Kara? It's not gonna happen."

"Oh yes it is. Because the longer you wait before pressing that button, the more pain you will be in."

"What?" Mon-El asked, and Rhea spun a dial on the machine. Sudden, excruciating pain filled up his body, boiling beneath his skin, and it took his breath away. He slipped slightly, one knee propping him up despite the torture.

"Mon-El!" Kara shouted, yanking futilely at the bars.

"If you press the button, your pain goes away for as long as you give it to the Kryptonian. The longer you wait, the more painful this becomes for you."

"I'm not going to hurt Kara." Mon-El muttered through teeth gritted against the sensation of lava burning through his body.

"Mon-El, it's okay, turn it on, I can handle it." Kara said.

"No."

Rhea spun the dial more and the pain increased. He stiffened, trying to remember how to breathe. He couldn't help the growl of pain or the weakness in his stance, but he knew that he wasn't going to put Kara through it.

"You can do whatever you want to me, Mother. I'm not going to do what you ask." He was going to vomit, he was sure of it, and then without warning the pain disappeared, and he could feel his pulse throbbing angrily through his veins.

"Unfortunately for you, you will. I had a feeling you wouldn't be very receptive to the idea, so I added a failsafe. If you don't take some initiative and torture the Kryptonian," she paused, relishing the moment as she revealed a switch on the machine, "I'm going to kill her. I flick this switch and the solution in her system combined with the kryptonite will overload her system completely, killing her slowly and excruciatingly. Or, you could do as your mother instructs."

"No, no, no, don't do this, please, I can't… Please, I can't do that to her, please…" Mon-El shook his head and pushed himself back up to his full height.

"Well then say goodbye to your girlfriend." Rhea put her hand on the switch.

"NO! No, please don't!" Mon-El yelled, "Okay… I'll… I'll do it, just please don't kill her, please?"

He turned to face Kara and she looked up at him and managed a small smile, "It's okay."

"No, no it's not." He said, barely holding back tears, "I don't want to do this, I can't…"

"Yes you can." Kara whispered, "it's okay, I forgive you. I understand, and you can do this. Just press the button."

"I don't… I…"

"Press the button, Mon-El. Or she dies." Rhea said.

Mon-El looked down at the device in his hand and back up at Kara, "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry." And he pressed the button.

Kara screamed in pain, her back arching and she collapsed against the bars, unable to stand. He released the button and stepped forward, "Kara I'm so sorry–"

"It's okay," she panted, "I'm fine. Who says torture hurts? That was nothing." She smiled, trying to reassure him, but he saw the tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Again." Rhea commanded.

Kara braced herself and Mon-El held down the control. She screamed again, sliding down the door and spilling onto the ground, her screams rising in pitch. He flinched and let go and she drew in a rasping, shaky breath.

"Again."

"Remember," Mon-El said quietly, "You look like a tree."

Kara pushed herself up on her haunches and smiled at the memory of watching Funny Face on her couch with him. Smiled at the face he'd made when Fred Astaire had said that line because it was exactly the sort of awkwardly well-meaning thing he would say. He was calling her beautiful despite everything. She swallowed and locked eyes with him, "Let's give 'em the old pizazz."

He pressed the button.

* * *

"We've got to get them out of there! She's not going to be able to take it forever, we've got to get them out." Alex looked at Winn, "Please tell me you're getting somewhere?"

"Sort of…?"

"Sort of?" There was a frightening edge to Alex's voice and Winn sat up a little straighter.

"Well, I think she _let_ me into the camera system – she wanted us to see what she was doing to Kara and know that we couldn't do anything about it. That's why it was so easy. The rest is… a lot harder, even with the information the guard gave us; she's not an idiot, she deliberately sent lackeys that knew as little as possible."

"But?"

"But, I'm really good, and I think I can bypass the double encryption _through_ the cameras… And there's a catch, because there always is."

"What's the catch?"

"I'd have to turn off the cameras. We wouldn't be able to see what was going on up there for as long as it takes to get through. We'd still be able to hear, but I'm not sure we're gonna like that part."

They all looked at each other, the sounds of Kara's screams the only sound between them, until J'onn decided for them, "Do it."

* * *

Kara's screams were burrowing into Mon-El's brain and he knew he would never be able to forget the sound, that it would haunt his nightmares until he died. She was writhing in agony against the floor, and Rhea turn a knob on the larger machine, upping the pain. Her screams became almost silent, and she contorted, her injured hand smacking the bar and bleeding harder. He released the control and dropped to his knees beside her.

"I can't do it. I can't… I can't keep hurting you, I… please, I can't, I can't…"

She stretched her fingers through the bars and he gripped them, tears rolling down his face.

"I wish I'd landed somewhere else, I wish you'd never met me. If we never met you wouldn't be in so much pain."

"You're worth it…" She opened her eyes and searched his, "Every second."

"I'm not, I'm not."

"I… before I met you, I was so alone." Kara mumbled, "I had no-one who understood exactly what it was like to be who I was. And then, you arrived. And I… I had someone who understood… I had… My life changed when you arrived… for the better…" She winced and he shook his head, "And I love how much you've changed, but I also… love how much you've stayed yourself… And I know it seems like I'm just bossing you around all the time… But all I want is for you to see that you can become the hero I know you can be… from the moment I met you, I believed in you. I promised you… when you were unconscious… that you would never be alone… Your father's gone… your family… your planet… but so is mine… and we are not alone."

Mon-El suddenly realised what she was doing and he shook his head harder, "No, don't."

"Mon-El…"

"No. No I'm not gonna let you, because if you tell me all of this now it means you don't think you'll get to say it later… You're saying goodbye." He pulled her up into a sitting position and held her there, supporting her, "I'm not gonna let you. You're not saying goodbye, we're gonna get through this."

"Mon-El… I need you to know–"

"Don't you dare!" His heart broke as he looked into her eyes and realised that she was admitting defeat. She was accepting that she wasn't going to make it out. "Don't you dare say goodbye to me Kara, we don't give up! YOU don't give up! Don't you dare, please, please don't say goodbye. I can't…don't, don't give up. Don't you dare."

"Enough crying. Again." Rhea said. Kara slipped through his fingers as she collapsed back against the floor and he growled.

"I can't!" Mon-El shouted, "She's dying, she can't take any more! PLEASE! I CAN'T!"

"Yes… you can…" Kara slurred, her eyes drifting closed and her skin paling, "you can."

"Mother please just let her recover first. Please?"

Rhea drew herself up to her full height, and any shred of decency that Mon-El might have believed she possessed fell away as she uttered the words, "Press the button Mon-El."

"I can't."

"Then she dies."

"Please…" His hands balled into fists and he stared at the control by his feet. He wanted so badly to just destroy it, but he knew that would spell death for Supergirl. He slowly picked it up, but he hesitated, his finger hovering over the thing that was causing her so much agony.

Kara opened her eyes one last time and smiled sadly, saying the only thing that she could, the only thing she had the strength to say, the only thing that she knew would make him press the button; "Comets."

Mon-El looked at her, tears rolling down his face. He held down the control.


	3. Don't Give Me Up

**_'Cause what about, what about angels?_**  
 ** _They will come, they will go, make us special..._**

 ** _Don't give me up_**  
 ** _Don't give,_**  
 ** _Me up_**

 ** _How unfair, it's just our love_**  
 ** _Found something real that's out of touch_**  
 ** _But if you'd searched the whole wide world_**  
 ** _Ho oh oh would you dare to let it go?_**

 _Birdy_

* * *

Kara cried out in anguish and twisted, but Mon-El had already let go and she was gasping for air. Suddenly, the cell lock light changed colour and the door swung slightly open. Rhea leapt forward but Mon-El was too fast, and he threw the control on the floor.

"Thank you Winn," Mon-El lurched forward and grabbed the door, yanking it open and scooping Kara into his arms and then the wall behind his mother exploded. He spun around and shielded Kara from the blast as debris rained down on them. When it lessened he turned and ran for the hallway, jumping through the now gaping hole. He found himself somewhere he hadn't been before, an armoury of some kind, and grabbed a gun, slinging the strap over his shoulder so he had both hands free to carry Kara, "Just hold on. We'll be home soon. Just hold on." He didn't even know if she heard; she lay, unresponsive, in his arms and he could feel her fluttering, fading heartbeat against his chest.

"Mon-El." Winn's voice echoed dramatically around the spacecraft, "Mon-El, I don't know if you've got Kara, but I really hope you do. We had to knock out the cameras in order to take control. So if you can hear me, head towards the bridge. Oh I really hope this works."

"It will. It has to." Alex's voice said, and Kara stirred slightly.

"I've got her!" He yelled out.

"Thank god! We're bringing you home sis."

"See, Kara, your sister believes in you, we're gonna get back, we're gonna get back for Alex."

"Love." Kara breathed.

"Yeah, Alex loves you and you love her so you have to just hold on until we get there, okay?"

He leapt through the door and sprinted down a side corridor full of guards. He dodged the swing of a guard's staff, nearly running into another, ducking to avoid it. The next strike was aimed at Kara and he spun her away, taking the brunt of the blow and stepping backwards into it, throwing the guard into the one behind him. He picked up speed and when the next sentry stepped forward he dropped to his knees and slid across the floor, arriving at the end of the hall before the guards even realised what had happened. He shifted Kara in his arms and shot behind them so they wouldn't be followed. The soldiers shot back and he jumped to avoid them, but one caught him in the thigh and he stumbled. He ignored the sharp pain and took a left, and found himself in the bridge.

"I'm here!" Mon-El shouted excitedly, "Ah, but Winn doesn't know that."

"Wanna bet?" Winn's voice said. He looked around and saw Winn and Alex standing in a portal, with J'onn fighting off a group of soldiers.

"Let's go!" Alex called out and Mon-El ran straight through the portal and back to the DEO. He didn't wait to see if his friends came through; he ran straight to the medical bay and put Kara under yellow sun lamps. Once he was sure she was safe from attack, he sped back to the portal to find that all of his friends were fine and that the portal was closed.

"Where's Kara?" Winn asked.

"Is she okay?" Alex was already halfway to the medical bay.

"I don't… I don't know." Now that the fight was over, the guilt and pain was starting to set in, "Winn, what are we going to do about my mother?"

"Well, I still have control of her ship, so she can't attack us and she can't beam down here. The only option I've left open on the ship computers is to fly away. Let's hope she takes it."

"Yeah. Because if she doesn't, I'll kill her myself." Mon-El said darkly. They arrived back at Kara's bedside to find Alex hooking her up to wires and tubes with the lamps turned off.

"We've got to flush the poison from her system, Mom's on her way to synthesise an antidote. The yellow sun lamps will do their bit to heal her, but first we have to ensure she can't be hurt any more than she already has."

Eliza rushed in and gasped, "Oh Kara!"

"I know, we've gotta work fast." Alex said and she and her mother turned on monitors and started checking Supergirl's vitals. After what felt like the longest stretch of time he'd ever experienced, they pronounced her to be stable and said that it would take the next ten hours for them to fully flush the serum out of her system. Winn rang James and Alex called Maggie and J'onn began to tend to things at the control centre.

* * *

Mon-El settled himself beside her, holding her hand. He thought he might fall asleep, but his worry and the pain from his own wounds kept him up. The laser burn on his leg was aching and he rolled his shoulders back in pain. He shouldn't be hurt – lasers had never done that to him before. He looked down at himself, but his head was foggy and he was exhausted. He thought he had only been there for a few minutes, but when Alex and Maggie arrived, it was clear that Alex had rested and changed clothes.

"It's been twelve hours, she should wake up soon." Alex said.

"Good. Good." Mon-El said distractedly.

"Are you okay? you don't look so hot." Maggie asked.

"I'm always hot." Mon-El attempted joking, but it didn't sit right and he grimaced.

Everyone else slowly filtered in as the twelfth hour ticked into the thirteenth and eventually the anxiety and the anticipation became too much. Mon-El stood and paced to the back of the room, staring at the woman he loved, and he couldn't breathe.

"Hey, buddy, you okay?" Winn asked.

Mon-El nodded, "I guess I'll uh… I… I just need a second."

"Hey, we should get those injuries tended to," J'onn offered but he just walked out in silence.

* * *

When he got to the training room, he started punching the concrete bricks, like he'd seen Kara do so many times before. He let his fury take over and he hit the bricks until they exploded under his fists, so he turned to the metal fighting posts, and when he was done with those they looked like modern art sculptures. He threw himself across the room, hitting the wall and rebounding. He picked up the remainder of one of the bricks and launched it into the air, screaming in rage and pain and worry. He kicked one of the doors so hard it flew off its hinges and smashed the glass wall on the other side of the hall. And when he had nothing else to throw, nothing else to punch, he sunk to his knees amongst the rubble and cried. He grabbed fistfuls of his hair and curled up into a ball and sobbed uncontrollably. He stayed in that position for a really long time, forehead pressed to the floor, chest on his knees, and he felt like he was spinning out of orbit. He didn't hear the footsteps crunching on the dust until someone wrapped their arms around him.

"It's okay sweetie. She knows you did your best." Eliza said quietly. He clung to her arm, trying to keep hold of his senses.

"This is all my fault." He moaned.

"No, it's not." Alex said, kneeling down beside him and taking his hand, "It's no-one's fault but your mother's."

"I… I tortured her, I…" His tears turned to self-hatred and he tried to breathe in but he couldn't, "I couldn't help her…"

"Mon-El, listen to me, you're having a panic attack, alright, you need to take a deep breath for me," Eliza said.

"I can't."

"Yes you can."

"I can't, I can't, I can't," He stuttered, and Alex grabbed his face, forcing him to look at her.

"You can, and you will. You will calm down and get up and you will take care of Kara." Alex ordered, "She needs you."

That was the only thing he heard, just the words _she needs you_ whirling around his brain, and he used them as an anchor. He sucked in a rattling breath and Eliza stroked his back, "Good, that's it, deep breaths, come on."

He eventually calmed down enough that the tears returned, and he looked at Alex, "I'm so sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry for – if you hadn't done what you did, Kara would be dead right now. I would have done the same. So would she."

* * *

Kara came to, fully healed, but still a little shaky. She opened her eyes and the room swam into focus. She took in her surroundings groggily and smiled with relief when she realised where she was. Alex, Maggie and her mother were on one side and Hank, James and Winn were on the other.

"How do you feel?"

"Um, surprisingly, I feel fine. Not wonderful, and definitely not super, but fine."

"Thank god for that!" Eliza gushed and everyone else wholeheartedly agreed. It took her a moment in her tired haze, but after she'd recovered her bearings, she noticed.

"Where's Mon-El?"

"Uh, he's in the training room." Winn said hesitantly. Everyone looked at her with weird expressions; they seemed torn between pity and nervousness.

Kara pushed herself up on her pillows, "Did he get his injuries looked at yesterday?"

"Uh, no, he... we asked, but he brushed us off. Said they weren't that bad and that we should focus all our energy on making you better." Alex said.

"Okay… But…" Kara's voice sounded calm enough, "but I'm better, so where is he?"

"He, uh… He stayed here all night, didn't move from your bed, but this morning I think it all just became too much and he sort of… destroyed the training room." Alex said.

"So he healed on his own?" Kara asked; something was niggling in the back of her mind – something she'd noticed earlier that just wasn't right.

"Uh, I'm not sure, he still looked a little bruised, why?"

Kara shook her head, "It's probably nothing, it's just… in order to get the poison into me she had kryptonite in the cell. How did she get the poison into Mon-El?"

Her eyes abruptly lit up with panic and she swung her legs over the bed, despite the protests of her friends, "Oh my god! Mon-El?!"

Deciding it was best not to argue, her friends and family followed her out of the room, intent on helping her find him, but she didn't appear to need any help, even if she was a little dizzy on her feet. She walked to the edge of the room and looked out on the open plan of the DEO, "Mon-El?!"

There he was: standing limply in the doorway of the armoury, and when he saw her his face broke into a beaming smile. Her heart rose and sunk in equal measure when he walked towards her. She supersped at him and wrapped her arms around his neck, while he scooped his loosely around her waist. She noticed him leaning just a little more heavily on her than normal and she pushed him back and held him at arms length.

"Where is it?"

"Where's what?" He looked at her with a smile, but his eyes were tired and his skin was an odd colour.

"Where's the lead?" She scanned his arms with her x-ray vision.

"I don't know." Mon-El said.

"But you know it's in your system somewhere?" Kara said, panicked.

"I guessed."

She found it: a buckshot spattering of lead in his abdomen, lots of tiny pieces that wouldn't have bothered him much until his body began to react negatively to the element. It must have happened some time when he was fighting – an injury he wouldn't pay any attention to in the heat of battle, something that barely stung.

"Mon-El, why didn't you say anything?"

"You needed saving first." Mon-El muttered, right before his eyes rolled back in his head and Kara caught him in her arms.

"Mom!" Kara and Alex said at the same time.

Eliza nodded and ran to her workstation beside the medical bay, trying to find the anti-lead serum they'd created after the last incident. Kara laid Mon-El down on the bed beside the one she'd occupied and stroked his hair.

"Mon-El, what did you do?" She whispered.

* * *

 _Kara was asleep, she knew that much; she was dreaming of her apartment two weeks prior to their abduction by Queen Rhea. It was a nice memory. They were snuggled up on the couch, and the credits had just rolled on The Princess Bride._

 _"Want to watch Breakfast at Tiffany's? Maybe you can sing to me after." Mon-El flashed her a grin and she giggled, leaning into him._

 _"Maybe," She said, instead of what she wanted to say: **I love you.** She twisted slightly and kissed his nose, "Or maybe we can do something else after."_

 _He chuckled and pulled her closer to him, his arms finding themselves perfectly situated around her waist as he nuzzled into the crook of her neck, "I do love that, but I honestly just want to sit here and watch you watching movies."_

 _"Inconceivable!" Kara pronounced, "Mon-El of Daxam, refusing a night of passion, to watch an_ old cheesy movie _?"_

 _"Hey, at any point did I refuse? I just meant to postpone it a little." He kissed her temple, "But if you really want…"_

 _"No, no, it's nice that you want to just pretend to be normal with me. I like it." **I love you**. _

_"I like it too." **I love you**._

 _As the movie began, she relaxed in his arms, but soon became impatient. She shifted to the side a little so she could reach his face more comfortably and kissed him. They stayed that way for a long time, so long that Audrey started to sing Moon River, and Kara smiled against his lips. It struck her that he kissed her differently than she'd seen him kiss other people. She tried to think straight so she could compare – all those nights at the bar when she'd looked over and seen him making out with random women, alien and otherwise._

 _He was more careful with her. No less passionate; he didn't treat her like porcelain that could break if pressed too hard, thank god. No, his care was taken in a different way. When Mon-El kissed her, he did it unselfishly, consciously letting her decide exactly what would happen with each embrace. Even when it seemed he was leading their dance, he would always adapt to her steps. He was giving himself to her, putting himself in her hands. He kissed her like he savoured every second, like he was terrified it was all a dream. She marvelled at this small action, this one thing that told her more than any other that he'd changed. When he started as an intern at CatCo, he'd said something like,_ "on Daxam when a woman wants to please a man," _and she'd never been more glad to interrupt someone in her life. But now, he was different. He didn't expect anything of her, didn't presume that she should please him, and he'd even backed off on the protectiveness, even though she knew where it came from. He knew that he didn't own her, she wasn't a possession: she was a partner. She also noticed more than once that his eyes would already be closed by the time she kissed him, and she found it incredibly endearing._

 _"What?" He asked softly, and she blinked._

 _"Sorry, I was just… thinking."_

 _"Oh yeah? Thinking about what?"_

 _"Nothing, just…" **I love you**. She sighed contentedly, "this is really nice."_

 _"Yeah. Now if only people could stop committing crimes all the time, we could do this more often."_

* * *

"Kara? Kara?" J'onn's voice snapped her out of it and she jerked awake.

"Yeah?"

"Sorry, but there's an issue downtown."

"Of course there is." Kara stood, "What am I up against?"

"Gunmen in the alien bar – we think it's Cadmus, or some other anti-alien terrorist organisation. James has already headed off with Winn, but they could definitely use your help. Like, for example, if there are more than three opponents."

Kara snorted at the joke but sighed at the idea of leaving her sick boyfriend, "Excellent. Because what's life without a crisis to solve?" She rolled her eyes and shot out into the sky.

Eliza watched her adoptive daughter go, "Do you think she's alright?"

"Not even a little bit." Alex said, "But it might do her good to punch some bad guys for a while."

The power in the DEO unexpectedly surged and drained, and everyone looked to the med-bay. Within seconds it was back and his vitals had jumped again – it was the third time it had happened in the last two hours.

"Is the Daxam ship still in orbit?" J'onn asked.

"Yep," Alex responded, "She's refusing to budge, but at least she can't take any action towards us."

"I don't trust her to just sit and wait. She's far too cunning. We need to be careful," J'onn pointed out.

"Really, 'cause I was just gonna kick back and drink a few beers, usher in our new Daxamite overlords?" Maggie remarked. Alex elbowed her.


	4. Can't Pretend

_**And my arms are tough**_  
 _ **But they can be bent**_  
 _ **They can be bent**_  
 _ **And I wanna fight**_  
 _ **But I can't contend**_

 _ **I guess that's love**_  
 _ **I can't pretend**_  
 _ **I can't pretend**_

 _Tom Odell_

* * *

"Kara?!" Mon-El suddenly shot up in his bed, wide-eyed and pulse racing. His head throbbed and his chest felt uncomfortably hot, but all he cared about was finding Kara Zor-El and holding her close.

"Good, you're alive. Kara would have _killed_ me if you died." J'onn said jokingly, approaching his bed, "I shouldn't have let you brush me off about your injuries yesterday. I apologise."

"I wouldn't have let you help, not until I was sure Kara was okay." He rubbed his face with his hands, trying to get some feeling back into his fingers.

"Yeah, speaking of which…"

"She's mad at me?" Mon-El looked sheepish as he pulled on his clothes.

"Mad doesn't really cover it. Vengeful fury I think comes closer." Alex appeared and looked over his vitals, "You're all better. But I don't hold out hope for you once Kara gets back."

"Great." Mon-El sighed, just as James and Winn rounded the corner, arguing about something.

"All I'm saying is, you can make this thing bulletproof and alien proof, but _one guy and a hammer_ and it just fails?"

"Yeah, because _obviously_ we have a _lot_ of battles with–" They looked up and their faces said it all.

"Oh god. How bad was it?" Alex asked.

"We had to pull her off one of the terrorists because we were genuinely concerned she might kill him in front of everyone at the bar."

"I'm dead." Mon-El said matter-of factly.

"No, but you're gonna get pretty damn close." Kara said, touching down next to his bed.

"Ah, now, see, before you get mad–"

"Are you okay?" She asked, her voice stern and detached.

"Uh, yeah, Alex said I'm fine."

"Oh, well in that case, WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING!?" Kara snapped.

"Okay, we're gonna go do… important DEO things now." J'onn ushered everyone out of the room and Mon-El watched them go with a rising sense of dread.

"I'm waiting?" Kara said and he stood and started pacing.

"I… Kara, I just…" He nervously scratched his chin, but he couldn't meet her eyes.

"You could have DIED. You could have DIED, MON-EL! What the hell is wrong with you?"

"You needed their help more than me." He stared at a patch of floor behind her.

"I was away from the Kryptonite, you still had lead in your system, so that's just idiotic, Mon-El. Why do you get to decide that I needed more help?"

"Well you were barely conscious, I could hardly have asked, could I?"

"No, you don't get to take the high road in this conversation, not when you just did something so _stupid._ "

"Kara," he started, but she smacked his shoulder angrily and he winced.

"When did you develop a death wish? How could you be so stupid?!"

"How could I?" Mon-El flicked his eyes up to hers, his anger giving him strength, "How could I? You were DYING. YOU WERE DYING IN MY ARMS, KARA, FROM SOMETHING THAT _**I**_ DID TO YOU! I could feel it, do you know that? I could _feel_ your pulse fading. I could _feel_ your breathing get slower, and you were getting cold. You were dying, no matter how far away from the Kryptonite you were, and I couldn't…" His breath caught in his lungs, "It was MY FAULT. It's all my fault." There were tears running down his face and the room was spinning, but all he could see was the glistening of Kara's eyes, and how sad she looked.

"Goddammit Mon-El! It wasn't your fault! If it had been me and Alex on the ship, she would have done the same thing. If our positions had been reversed, I would have done the same. You didn't have a choice! Don't turn that into an excuse for self-hatred – don't make _me_ the reason that you think you deserve to die, Mon-el, don't you dare!"

There was an incredibly long pause as both of them glared angrily, the air between them crackling with unease and tension, and Winn looked up from where he was pretending not to eavesdrop and asked the group: "They're both safe now. Why are they so angry at each other?"

"Because they love each other, sweetheart." Eliza said rationally.

"Don't you ever do that to me again!" Kara barked.

"I promise. Seriously, Kara, I mean it, now can we please just move past this?!"

"Move past it? God, Mon-El you nearly died!" She picked up the empty glass from the bedside table and for a moment it seemed she might throw it.

"So did you!"

"No, that's different, because if you–"

"I love you!" Mon-El interrupted.

"What?" The glass in her hand shattered and she took a step back, staring him in the face.

"I love you! I'm in love with you. That's why I was going to let myself die. I love you. I never want to be with anyone else." He breathed a sigh of relief and shoved his hands in his pockets, "I'm not just saying it because I want to end this argument, and I'm not just saying it because I can – I love you so much. And I know you struggle to talk about your feelings, and that's fine, I don't need you to say it back, but I just… I just wanted you to know."

Kara's eyes were the size of saucers and she was wringing her hands awkwardly like she always did when she was nervous. She opened her mouth to say something, but before she had a chance, a pulsing blue portal appeared between them and Barry jumped through it.

"Kara!" He said excitedly, pulling her into a big hug, "Gosh it's so nice to see you. Oh, and everyone!" He waved over her shoulder, "Wait, are we in the DEO?"

"Yeah."

"Nice new digs! I wasn't going to say anything, but there were bats in the last one."

"That's what I said!" Kara laughed.

Barry turned around and pulled Mon-El into a hug too, "Hey man, good to see you."

"Barry, I really like you, but has anyone ever told you that you have the _worst_ timing?" Mon-El said good-naturedly and Barry grinned.

"People have mentioned it." He extended his hand to J'onn, then Winn and James, "Cool suit man, you superhero-ing now?"

"Yeah, we're sort of a double act." James said.

"I made the suit!" Winn yelped.

"Awesome!" Barry high-fived Winn and looked at the three people he didn't recognise, "I'm assuming one of these people is the sister I didn't meet last time?"

"Oh! Yeah, this is my adoptive mother Eliza, my sister Alex, and her girlfriend Maggie."

"Excellent, it's so nice to meet you all finally! Kara's told me loads about you all. Maggie, I think you'd get along with _my_ adoptive dad. You're both hardened cops, but you both like to have fun. And drink."

"Wait so you're Barry Allen?" Alex interrupted, "The Flash? You're a CSI too, right? I am going to geek out so hard."

"Yep. And it's so good to meet you all, but unfortunately I didn't come here for fun."

"How can we help?" Kara asked, crossing her arms.

* * *

Cisco, Julian and Felicity were deep in conversation while Oliver, Diggle and Wally admired each other's suits. Caitlin was noticeably absent, but neither team was willing to discuss it. Curtis and Rene hovered in the corner, unsure exactly where they fit into the equation.

A blue glow lit up the room and the DEO team jumped through. Oliver stood up straighter, "That's… a lot of people, Barry. I thought you were just going for Kara."

"Yeah, well, I figure if the Legends are unavailable, let's get another team in. Besides, Mon-El wouldn't let me go without him, and J'onn feels like he needs to supervise. Everyone else is just… on board."

"Uh-huh. So, introductions?" Diggle asked.

"Kara's told us about all of you. It is so cool to be here, with, with all of you." Alex gushed.

Barry beamed, "You all know Kara: Supergirl. This is her sister Alex, who is a brilliant scientific mind and also an excellent agent. This is J'onn J'onnz, head of the Department of Extranormal Operations on Kara's earth, and also, he's an alien."

J'onn revealed his true self and Rene and Diggle squared themselves up slightly. Even Oliver seemed a tad alarmed, but Curtis and Felicity were just fangirling in the corner.

"I go by Martian Manhunter."

"So cool. So unbelievably cool. Can anyone believe that this is our lives?" Felicity gushed.

"Felicity." Oliver said and she nodded and quietened.

"This is James Olsen, he goes by Guardian. He doesn't have any powers, but he has pretty good tech support. That's Winn Schott."

"Hey, I am _not_ just tech support for James," he smiled, "I'm a DEO agent – which means I'm also Kara's tech support."

"And this is Mon-El, he's also an alien."

Mon-El waved, "Hi. Kara, your friends are all… Unnervingly attractive people."

"And Kara's boyfriend." Barry added.

"But they don't have powers though, right? Just Cisco, Wally and Barry?" Mon-El asked.

"Uh, yeah."

"No powers. Wow." Mon-El said quietly.

"You got a problem with that?" Oliver asked.

"What? No! No, that's not what I meant, I think it's amazing what you do. If I didn't have these powers I do not think I would be trying to save the world."

"Don't be ridiculous, Mon-El, of course you would." Kara said.

"Kara, think about it. Without my powers, I'm essentially useless. I was raised a spoilt prince – I had everything handed to me," he said. Felicity mouthed at Barry, ' _prince?'_ And he nodded over Mon-El's shoulder.

"Except Kara." Winn piped up.

"Yes, thank you Winn." Mon-El glared.

Winn seemed oblivious to his annoyed tone, "You're welcome."

"Honestly, I would not be fighting if I didn't have these powers. I admire what you're doing here."

"You're right, you're not good with computers like me, you're not a crazy genius like Alex, you're not a reporter, you're not a trained fighter, you just work in an alien bar," Winn said helpfully, "Wow, I'm not sure I realised just how little you do. You're, like, useless."

Mon-El rolled his eyes around to scowl at his friend, and Kara watched them both carefully. It wasn't a good idea to push Mon-El's buttons today, of all days.

"Winn I can rip you apart with my bare hands." Mon-El reminded him.

"Right, yes, sorry, I forgot for a second that we were speaking in hypothetical." Winn said uncomfortably and Mon-El rounded on him and was only stopped by Kara standing between them She put her hands on Mon-El's chest.

"Hey, you know what you need? A deep breath." She said, smiling, and he sighed.

"Fine. But from now on, he's paying for his drinks."

"Aw, man, seriously? I'm sorry!" Winn smacked his forehead.

"Call me useless again and I will…" He trailed off when he saw Kara's face, "Do nothing, because I am not on Daxam anymore, I am a superhero and I have to do good." It was almost a question and Kara couldn't help but smile.

"Wait, so what _can_ you do?" Oliver asked.

"He's superstrong, bulletproof, really fast and can leap tall buildings in a single bound," Winn said before anyone else could answer, "and I, for one, admire him very much."

"Laying it on a bit thick there," Kara said out the corner of her mouth.

"Right, yep, shutting up now." Winn said.

"That would be a first," Alex said.

"He is sort of right though, I'm not that good at fighting, I just have the very unfair advantage of being invulnerable and stronger than everyone else."

"Barry told me what we're up against: a future speed villain?" Kara asked.

"Yeah, he wants to kill Iris to get to me."

"Doesn't that sound familiar?" Mon-El muttered to Kara, garnering some looks from their friends.

"We need the combined power of all of us to stop him, because I can't do it on my own."

"And hopefully we do it fast, because I've got business back in Star City." Oliver said.

"By business do you mean that crazy psychopath who tortured you? If we sort this problem out, maybe we could help _you_ Ollie?" Kara suggested.

Oliver looked irritated, "You told them about Prometheus?"

"No, I told _Kara_ about Prometheus. She's our friend, Oliver. Why are you acting like I read her your diary?"

"God, Barry, sometimes it's nice to think we can handle a problem ourselves."

"What, do you not want our help?" Mon-El asked, "Because if you've got it handled, it would be nice if you could pop over to our Earth and help us."

"Mon-El!" Kara scolded.

"What, now _we're_ too proud to ask for help?" He retorted.

"Fair point." Kara shrugged.

"Maybe you _could_ come and help us out when we're done?" Alex agreed.

"Why, what are you up against?" Oliver asked, concerned.

"A huge ship hovering over our Earth with an alien army and a Queen who wants to kill us. We have control of her ship, but when we get back we'd like to get rid of her, not just leave her there forever. She wants to kill Kara and kidnap Mon-El, and she'll do anything to get her way, including destroy the planet." Winn tuned it.

"Why does she want you? Who could be so evil they'd kill everyone just to get to one man?" Julian asked.

"Eobard Thawne?" Cisco said.

"Deathstroke?" Felicity joined.

"Prometheus?" Diggle suggested.

"Savitar." Barry nodded.

"My mother." Mon-El said bitterly.

"Oh. Oh that… that sucks man." Cisco stuttered, "That's like some Tangled, Star Wars, Oedipus stuff right there."

"I understood some of that." He said, "Yeah, she's evil. Truly evil."

"Well, we'll help you. The second we've dealt with our own problems." Felicity said, and Oliver scowled at her, until she elbowed him in the ribs.

"Yeah. We'll help." Oliver said. Everyone in both parties agreed wholeheartedly.

"Yep. This year has been just the worst." Cisco said. Everyone concurred, some feeling it more acutely than others; Kara, Mon-El, Barry and Julian in particular looked the most affected.

"You're telling me." Kara muttered and Mon-El glanced over at her. She looked tired, just a little more worn down than usual, and he wondered if maybe this had been such a good idea. It had been less than 24 hours since they'd both nearly died, and now they were just going to jump right back into battle? He caught her eye, but she shook her head slightly and he nodded, but remained unsure.


	5. Too Close and Too Bright

_**All the other girls here are stars,  
you are the Northern Lights**_

 _ **They try to shine in through your curtains  
you're too close and too bright**_

 _ **They try and they try but everything that they do**_  
 _ **Is the ghost of a trace of a pale imitation of you...**_

 _Josh Ritter_

* * *

"Well, there have been a lot of very not good things that have happened, but I for one can find a few reasons to be happy about it." Mon-El noted, and Kara blushed.

"Ha, I've just realised who you remind me of!" Felicity said, "Barry – you're similar to Barry."

"Really? I was _just_ thinking that he seems like the broody Oliver Queen type – he came from a wealthy, privileged family, and because of hardship, left that life only to become a superhero, burdened with glorious purpose." Cisco said.

"Oh my god, please don't ruin my boyfriend." Kara shook her head in pleading at them.

"How would they _ruin_ me?"

"Well, they'll make me think you're just like them, but you are your own person. I love you for you, not for the traits you share with my friends."

"Well, that's one way of–" Mon-El froze. He turned to stare at Kara in absolute silence and everyone else felt the shift in atmosphere and quietened too.

"I mean, the traits you share with them are fine but… What? Is there something on my face?"

"What did you just say?"

"About Barry?"

He didn't say anything, he just shook his head at her. Everyone waited taciturnly in anticipation for the penny to drop. She glanced around at her friends and looked confused, "What?"

Barry gave her a meaningful look and suddenly she clapped her hands over her mouth. Her eyes locked back onto Mon-El. He was looking at her in wonder.

"I can't believe this. In a room full of witnesses, dammit, I owe Maggie dinner." Alex said.

"You bet _against_ me?" Kara looked affronted.

"Of course I did, Kara, you don't talk about your feelings."

"What, yes I do!"

"I have to be honest, I bet against you as well." Barry said, and gave J'onn 20 dollars, "You'll talk about everyone else but I've watched you avoid talking about your feelings too many times to take the risky side of that bet."

"Which is why I am now up $20." J'onn said.

"Yeah, but that's cheating, you're psychic." Alex scolded.

"Oh my god I hate all of you." Kara crossed her arms, "I do _not_ avoid my feelings."

"Kara, you're avoiding it _now._ Like, _as we speak._ " Winn pointed out.

Mon-El was doing his stray space puppy face and she felt simultaneously aglow with happiness and struck with misery, "No, I didn't mean it like _that._ " She tried to backpedal and his face fell, "No, wait, hang on! Just let me… I…Oh I'm so sorry Mon-El, I wasn't going to… we were arguing and then you said you love me and I didn't know what to do and then Barry appeared."

"Wow, Barry, you _still_ have the worst timing," Oliver said and Barry made a face at him.

"So I was going to wait until we got back to our Earth to finish talking about it, but it just sort of…"

"Do you love me?" He asked quietly.

"Of course she does, Mon-El! Why else do you think she was so furious that you nearly died for her?" Alex rolled her eyes in their direction and Kara frowned.

"Alex, I'll kill you." She said good-naturedly and Alex closed her mouth and nodded.

"Well, I always expect you to be a _little_ annoyed with me." Mon-El shrugged and tried to act like it wasn't killing him that he thought she didn't mean it, "I tend to assume it's because I've done something wrong – and usually I'm right and I was acting like an ass somehow."

"This is very touching, but we do have battles to get to?" Oliver raised his eyebrows and Felicity smacked him.

"Wait, did you join this betting pool as well?" Kara asked Mon-El.

"Course I didn't, no. Absolutely not." He blustered, but she clearly didn't buy it.

"Did you bet on _me_?"

"I always bet on you," He said softly, "except for this one instance, when I put money on you never saying it, and possibly breaking up with me. Again."

"Mon-el!"

"Hey, I…" He sighed and threw his hands up in the air in defeat, "I'll finish your reprimand for you, shall I? _You're still the same selfish, obtuse, spoilt Daxamite you've always been._ "

"Wow, that was a scarily accurate Kara impression," Alex looked disturbed.

"No, it wasn't!" Kara snapped, but no-one believed her, "It wasn't! God, Mon-El, did you really bet against us?"

"No, just you." Winn piped up.

"Shut up, Winn!" Mon-El, Kara, Alex and Barry said in unison. Mon-el scratched his cheek and took a hesitant step towards her.

"I just… Every time I think that we can be happy, that things are finally looking up, something comes out of nowhere and blindsides me. I was a prince, then your planet exploded and destroyed mine. I escape and get to Earth, only to find I'm completely alone and you're from Krypton so of course you hate me. I finally earn your friendship and Cadmus kidnaps me and shoots me. I start to develop feelings for you, then I get poisoned and nearly die. I try to save you from electrocution and you tell me you don't want to work with me anymore. I tell you how I feel, and you come to my place of work a week later just to tell me that you don't want to be with me. You admit that you were lying, and that you actually _do_ have feelings for me, and Mxyzptlk shows up. We get together, then all that stuff with Jeremiah happens. Then you lose your job. Then my parents arrive and I tell you I love you and then you break up with me, which is fair, I lied, I get it. Then you get whammied by _jazz hands_ and I basically just have to watch, thinking that you're going to die before I ever have a chance to prove myself. Then we get back together and my mother puts a bounty on your head and attacks you and I get forced back onto the ship to go back to Daxam. _Then_ once you've gone to all the trouble to rescue me, two weeks later I get kidnapped and when you come after me, _my mother forces me to TORTURE YOU, AND THEN YOU NEARLY DIE IN MY ARMS._ " Mon-El's voice got steadily louder and by the time he reached the end of his speech he was yelling, "AND DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON THE MULTITUDE OF REASONS WHY ME DYING WOULD HAVE MADE YOU BETTER OFF, KARA! SO YEAH, I BET AGAINST US. BECAUSE I THINKIF I _HAD_ BET YOUR WAY, SOMETHING WOULD HAVE GONE MORE WRONG THAN IT ALREADY HAS."

He took a deep breath and everyone shuffled awkwardly. They were all thinking about how much his speech applied to their own lives – Oliver and Felicity, Barry and Iris, Alex and Maggie, Diggle and Lyla, Julian and Caitlin.

"Mon-El…" Kara said sympathetically, but he jutted out his chin and shook his head.

"No, you know what, Winn's right, I'm just… I'm gonna go back to the DEO. I'm barely healed, and you've got this handled, so…"

"What do you mean barely healed?" Kara asked, a dangerous edge to her voice.

"No, it's… it's nothing, forget it –"

"Don't you dare shrug me off, what do you mean? Are you still not okay?"

Mon-El didn't say anything, so she yanked his shirt up to find a huge purple, green and black bruise stretching across his chest.

"That's not possible, you should be better." The sharp tone had become vulnerable.

"Yeah, well, it turns out that tiny pieces of lead are really hard to find."

"I thought we got them all!" Alex exclaimed.

"Clearly not."

"Why didn't you say anything?" Kara asked.

"Kara, let me give you a quick run-down of the last 48 hours – I was kidnapped, you came after me, I was shot up with the only substance that can kill me, but I didn't realise until later, then I was forced to torture you or my mother was going to kill you. I found out that my mother murdered my father. You nearly died in my arms from something that I did to you. Once we returned to Earth, I realised that I was also dying, but you were a priority. Then I nearly died, and when I woke up, you were really angry with me for nearly dying. Then I told you I loved you, again, and then Barry appeared with news of a crisis. Then you told me you loved me, but _you didn't mean it that way_? At what possible point was I going to mention that maybe I'm not fully healed?"

"You're such an ass." Kara said angrily, her eyes sparkling with unshed tears and he balled his hands into fists.

"Can you just… is there any way you can turn those off?" He gestured at her eyes.

"Seriously guys, there is a crisis, we have to get a move on." Oliver said, but this time Diggle smacked him. Mon-El seemed to suddenly realise just how much of a scene they were making. He supersped, grabbing her arm, and they ended up on the other end of the warehouse.

* * *

"Don't manhandle me!"

"Manhandle? Kara I couldn't manhandle you if I tried."

"So you were just going to go into battle like that? When you're vulnerable?"

"Of course I was," He said like it was obvious, " _you_ taught me that: it doesn't matter what the personal cost is, you have to protect the people at all times. I seem to recall you getting quite intense about that."

"Fighting while severely injured is not what I meant and you damn well know it." Kara hissed.

"No I don't Kara. I've seen you do it, why do you expect me not to? Is it because I'm a Daxamite or because you're worried about me screwing up? God, I love you, but sometimes you are so confusing."

"It's because I don't want you to die, that's why I expect you not to! If you hadn't told me, and then you'd died today, what was I supposed to do? What… what could I do knowing that you'd known and you'd fought anyway? Can you imagine how that would feel, how responsible I would be?"

"YES. Because that's how I felt YESTERDAY." Mon-El retorted, "And you got angry at me for it, remember?"

"Good point," Kara faltered and they both stood there, staring at each other in uncomfortable, charged silence. She wanted to tell him that she had meant it, she did love him, but she was too busy being annoyed at him. He wanted to tell her that he loved her even if she didn't love him back, but it hurt too much to admit that she might not feel the same way.

* * *

Across the warehouse, no-one was preparing for battle, all of them had turned as one and were watching the interaction.

"What are they saying, can anyone read lips?" Cisco asked.

"I can do you one better," J'onn suggested and tilted his head in concentration, "Kara is telling him off for not telling her, and Mon-El is saying that if she can fight while compromised, why can't he, does she not trust him? Kara is implying it's because she loves him… and now they're just staring at each other in angry silence."

"Oh my god, this would be so much easier for the two of them if they would just talk about their feelings." James said, and Alex, Winn and J'onn did simultaneous double-takes in his direction, "Okay fine. That's what I mean, I missed my chance with Kara, but he hasn't."

"Kara's the one that won't open up. Mon-El's been very open about his feelings from the beginning." J'onn argued.

"They've been frozen for a long time. The only way this is gonna end is in a fist-fight or making out." Cisco said.

* * *

They couldn't have heard him, but as if to prove his point, Mon-El broke their livid silence by grabbing Kara by the waist and pulling her to him, kissing her.

Kara nearly protested, she was trying so hard to stay angry at him, but the second his fingers brushed her hip to pull her in, her wrath dissipated. When their lips met it was passionate and broken and anxious. It was frantic, each of them tugging the other yet closer, and neither of them ever wanted it to end. Kara had fistfuls of his shirt and she yanked him forward. Mon-El wrapped one arm around her waist and stroked her neck with the other hand. Two days of panic, heartache, pain, love and anger had culminated in this fervent, unfaltering expression of love, and both of them felt an immediate sense of relief, a release of pressure, from the pent-up feelings and unsaid words. Unusually, it was Mon-El who broke the kiss first.

"Okay, we need to get to work," He said, nodding, but before he'd taken half a step away from her she wrenched him back and pressed her forehead to his.

"Do not put yourself directly in harm's way while you are this exposed." Kara whispered.

"I can't promise that." He said ruefully.

"Why not?"

"Because you made me better than that."

"Oh yeah. Remind me to yell at myself later." Kara joked.

"We really do have to go help these guys now." Mon-El muttered. He was still upset, that much was clear; he still thought that she'd only said it by accident, that she hadn't meant it.

"Yeah, I know," Kara mumbled back, "But I just… I..." She couldn't say it. Now that he was staring at her with that look on his face, and their friends were noticeably watching them from across the warehouse, and they were about to walk into battle, she couldn't let the words out of her mouth.

Mon-El sighed, partly out of frustration, but mostly in resignation. He shrugged and let go of her, "I promise I'll try not to die."

Kara rolled her eyes and followed him back towards their friends, who suddenly pretended to be busy, "That's reassuring."


	6. Out of Time

_**This world so inexplicable**_  
 _ **Parallel universe ticks out of time**_  
 _ **Guess if the gods have gone crazy**_  
 _ **Then we found the place for us to dive**_

 _ **If I am all you found**_  
 _ **An extra arm to wrestle down**_  
 _ **Will you keep me around?**_

 _Turin Brakes_

* * *

The pain in Mon-El's chest was getting worse, but he continued to ignore it, as he had been all morning. Kara was right – he _should_ be healed, but instead it felt as if all his strength was slowly sapping away. The second this battle was over he would get himself checked out, but at that very moment, he had to help their friends, "So what's the plan?"

"Well, Savitar aims to kill Iris – so we stop him before he gets to her." Barry explained.

"Yeah, but the _plan_ is?"

"He's expecting _me_ but he won't be expecting the combined forces of us all, I went to the future and checked, and originally I thought I could do it alone, and that's why I lost. So I'm not gonna do it alone. And we're gonna win."

"Okay, but… _Plan?_ " Mon-El suggested, and Kara stomped on his foot. A couple of his toes broke and he flinched slightly, but otherwise gave no indication that he was hurt, but unfortunately, she'd felt it through her boots.

"Did I just break your toes?" She asked, shocked.

"Only two of them, I'm fine." He said stiffly.

"That shouldn't be possible, I didn't even stomp that hard!"

"Lead? Poisoned? Powers weakened? Any of this ringing a bell, Kara? Can we just get to the damn plan please." Mon-El groaned and she drew back slightly, offended.

"Ah, yeah, so I know for a fact that he will be in this warehouse in an hour, because this is where he met me for one of our many battles, according to the future. So, we tag-team. We take him on together – Cisco can vibe people behind him, Kara and J'onn can get him from the sky, Mon-El, Wally and I will use our superspeed on the ground, Alex and Guardian can use their collection of alien weapons, Winn and Julian can be our eyes and the Arrow team can make sure he stays in the building."

"Sorry, you brought us here to play _defence_?" Oliver asked incredulously.

"No, I brought you here to battle an incredibly powerful villain who wants to kill people and take over."

"Fine, we'll man the exits." Oliver said bitterly.

"Cool."

"Actually, I've been meaning to ask, where's Iris?" Kara asked.

"I sent her away to Star City – she's staying at Oliver's until this whole thing is over, Joe's with her."

"Oh. And Caitlin?"

"You know what, we should talk more about Mon-El – how did you two meet?" Cisco interrupted, feigning cheeriness.

"I fell out of the sky in an alien pod and she trained me to be a superhero, what happened to Caitlin?" Mon-El was genuinely concerned; he liked Caitlin – she had done everything she possibly could to save Kara and Barry, and she had been nice to talk to while he sat at Kara's bedside.

"I don't think we need to…" Cisco trailed off, glancing at Julian.

"She was dying. There was an explosion and she was hit with shrapnel and she was dying, and the only way to save her was to release her meta-human powers, so she could regenerate. But I couldn't get the necklace back on in time and…" Julian rubbed his forehead.

"And Killer Frost was released onto Central City." Wally finished for them.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Diggle asked.

"One problem at a time, guys." Barry said quietly.

"Oh, I'm sorry Barry." Felicity said.

"That's okay, we'll get her back. But first we need to get rid of Savitar so more people aren't hurt."

"Yeah, okay buddy." Oliver said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"So, I know I sound like a broken record, but what's the actual plan?" Mon-El asked hesitantly.

* * *

An hour later they were all in position, and Mon-El was feeling worse. He agreed with Alex – he had been sure they'd gotten all of it – he'd felt fine when he woke up, but now it felt like it did before. He considered saying something, bowing out, but the thought had barely crossed his mind before a portal opened in the centre of the warehouse and a figure stepped out. They were obscured by the glowing light and the waves from the portal, and everyone immediately adopted defensive stances.

"Savitar! I hope you don't mind, I brought some friends!" Barry called out.

"So did he," Queen Rhea said, stepping into the light.

"Mother?" Mon-El said, shocked, "No, you can't be here!"

"Yes I can, Mon-El. Your friend who created the portal didn't do a good enough job. All my soldiers had to do was reverse engineer it, and we followed your signature here. Within moments, Savitar found me and offered me a chance to get my son back, so of course I jumped at the opportunity."

"I'll die before I come back with you." He said defiantly.

"That can be arranged." She said darkly.

"No! Don't hurt him!" Kara said.

"Why not? He hurt you." Rhea said, savouring the taste of the nasty words on her tongue.

"No, _you_ hurt me, it wasn't his fault."

"That's not what he thinks though, is it Mon-El? You _know_ you hurt her – you _know_ that you're no longer worthy of Supergirl's attention. You know that you're _weak._ "

"No, he's not, he not weak." Kara crossed her arms.

"Yes he is. Weak like his father, and too fond of a pretty face," She turned to face her son, "Your little girlfriend took her torture with dignity, but you didn't, did you?"

"Shut up." Mon-El snapped, and everyone's eyes flicked between the three of them. Even Barry was hanging back just to see what happened, despite wanting to know where Savitar was, and why he wasn't there.

"Barely an hour you were in that cell with those guards and by the fifth minute you cowered like a child. I thought I had raised you better. Apparently I was wrong."

"She tortured you?" Kara looked to her boyfriend.

He shifted his weight anxiously, "I'm fine."

"What did she do to you?"

" _I_ didn't do anything – he tried to escape and my guard acted accordingly."

"What did she do?" Kara's voice was sterner.

"The same thing she did to you, but with more beatings in between."

"What did she do?" She said, completely devoid of emotion.

"Between the blood machine torture sessions, Prince Humperdinck style? Mostly just being sliced, diced and stabbed… Occasionally being pummelled in the face for talking back. You know, standard torture stuff."

"What? Why didn't you say anything?"

"I thought you noticed in the cell, and then once we got out it didn't seem pertinent. It's not something I really wanted to think about."

"Mon-El." There was pity in her voice.

"I know, I know, I promised no more lying to you, I get it."

"No, that's not what I meant–"

"Oh, so your pretty little Kryptonian didn't know? I thought you loved her? What else haven't you told her?"

"Don't."

"Did you tell her you had a fiancé back on Daxam? Did you tell her that your brother and sister perished when the planet died? Did you tell her that the Kryptonians arrested you for assault on their planet?"

Kara couldn't say anything, she just looked at him with those damn interstellar eyes and he smiled mutedly, "No. I hadn't gotten around it yet. I thought I should bring home to the parents before I uncovered all the exes and family tragedy. And as for the arrest – I was at a bar, someone tried to drag a woman outside, I pulled him off. But because I was a Daxamite and we were on Krypton, _I_ got arrested."

"Mon-El… You don't have to explain anything to me."

"But I want to, Kara," He said confidently, "I want you to…" He faltered slightly and put his hand to his head.

"Mon-El?"

"I'm fine."

"No, he's dying. And he's going to keep dying if you don't let me take him back." Rhea waved her arm nonchalantly.

"What did you do to him?"

"Lernaean lead."

Mon-El groaned and rolled his eyes angrily. Of _course_ that's what it was. He stiffened as the pain crept into his arms; this was definitely not the way he'd planned for this week to go. Kara balled her hands into fists and J'onn looked furious. The blue light from the pulsating portal blazed across the faces of each person, all of whom looked upset, and also mildly confused.

"I thought we mined it to extinction?" Kara said.

"Not quite. Daxam had a small supply of our own, despite the interference by Kryptonians. We used it on our ship during the escape."

"What? What does that mean, learning lead?" Alex asked, before anyone else had a chance to.

" _Lernaean_ lead – so named after the Lernaean Hydra in Greek mythology," J'onn explained, "It regenerates itself when it gets damaged – which is fantastic for ship repairs if you get stranded in space, but not so good when it's lodged in Mon-El's abdomen."

"So that's why I feel like I have the worst hangover in the world. Who knew?" Mon-El joked.

"You're coming with me Mon-El." Rhea commanded.

"I don't think so," He responded.

"Then you'll die." Rhea said coldly.

"You'd let your own son die just to prove a point?" Oliver barked.

"No, I'm letting him die because he's a traitor to the throne and Daxam."

"Where's the antidote?" Alex asked.

"Why on earth would I tell you that, human? I may be a mother, but I am no fool."

"Take me, let Mon-El go. Let him live here in peace and you can take me and kill me or torture me, I don't care, just… please… please don't hurt your own son." Kara suggested.

"Kara! What, no!? What are you doing?" Mon-El snapped.

"That _is_ tempting." Rhea said, smiling viciously, pretending to think it over, "But I think I prefer my way." She stepped to the side and her soldiers started appeared through the portal, armed with their staffs and guns. The portal shrunk and disappeared behind them until the only light left in the warehouse was the fading sun outside. They formed a huge barricade behind their queen, weapons raised and drawn, and Rhea drew her own weapon: the kryptonite sword. The team adopted combat stances and moved forward as though to fight, but Mon-El wasn't going to let these people get hurt for him.

"ENOUGH." He bellowed and everyone froze, "I don't know how to appease you mother, but I do know how to stop you from getting what you want. And if what you want is me, then I have a solution for that. I'll just let myself die."

"Mon-El, no." Kara said.

"Why not, Kara? If it's the one thing that can stop her from achieving her goal, then why not?"

"Because…" _**I love you,**_ "Because I won't let you. We will defeat your mother together, as a team, as a family, and I'm not going to stand by while you kill yourself."

"You and what army, Kara?" He rolled his eyes at her tiredly.

"I _am_ an army, Mon-El." She drew herself up to her full height and glared at him.

"It doesn't matter anyway, I'm dead either way."

"Not if you come with me, son." Rhea said.

"Why do you even care, mother? If I don't come with you, you can rule the kingdom until you pass it on, and none of my pesky human rights can get in the way. What could you possibly want with me?"

"I love you, son."

"No, that's bull. Why are you _really_ doing all this?" He paused, and glanced between the woman he loved and the woman who raised him.

"What is it?" Kara asked, but he barely heard.

"It's just to hurt Kara, isn't it?" He rounded on his mother, rage giving him strength despite the aching in his chest, "This whole big plan of yours was just a ruse to hurt Kara, because in your mind, she took me away, and she forced you to kill my father. Well I got news for you, Queen Rhea, but Kara didn't have anything to do with your decision to murder the King, and she didn't brainwash me or take me from you; I just finally got far enough away that I could see the whole picture, and I didn't like what I saw."

"You would be halfway home with us by now, if you hadn't met that… that…"

"Kryptonian?! Yeah, she IS, she is a Kryptonian, Mother! And doesn't that just KILL you inside? That I've met the love of my life, and it wasn't the fiancé you carefully picked out for me, but someone as different to your ideals as I could possibly have found, someone who makes me better just by association? I don't care what you do to me, Mother. You can go to hell. I certainly won't be following." The pain spread to his head and it started to swim uncomfortably.

"You'll die." Rhea warned, and a hint of her motherly instinct could be heard beneath the hard exterior; a tiny tinge of regret in her voice that gave her away, but she wanted to hurt them both too much, and she wouldn't let something pesky like her love for her son get in the way of her revenge.

"I'll die fighting." Mon-El panted.

"Very well. You've made your choice." The portal reappeared and a massive metal man walked out, glowing blue: he could only be Savitar.

"Wrong choice." Savitar said, and in a split second, everything went crazy.


	7. Way Down We Go

_Hello everyone! Firstly I want to thank you all so much for reading this and enjoying it! It means so much to me and I'm so happy that you all like it! I love all your reviews as well and it warms my heart to open my phone in the morning and find new ones._

 _This chapter is a little different today, because I have divided it into perspectives for the battle. If this were a TV show and not a fanfiction, all I would have to do is change camera angles and the action would speak for itself, but unfortunately I cannot do that, so I thought I would try something different; the literary equivalent of a camera switch - a change in perspective. I hope you love it as much as I loved writing it, because it was a blast, if a little stressful making sure all the details were right.  
I love you all, Talis xxxx_

* * *

 _ **'Cause they will run you down, down til the dark**_  
 _ **Yes and they will run you down, down til you fall**_  
 _ **And they will run you down, down til you go**_  
 _ **Yeah so you can't crawl no more**_

 _ **And way down we go**_  
 _ **Way down we go**_  
 _ **Say way down we go**_  
 _ **'Cause they will run you down, down til you fall**_  
 _ **Way down we go**_

 _Kaleo_

* * *

Kara's first reflex was to chase down Rhea as she allowed her army to absorb her safely, but she knew she had to stick to the plan, for Barry, for Iris. So, she followed Barry and Wally and went after Savitar. Alex was backing up J'onn, aiming at things with her favourite gun, so Kara tried not to worry about her too much and just focus on the task. That was hard enough with her sister, but it was downright impossible with Mon-El. She saw him melt into one of Cisco's portals but she didn't see where he ended up because Savitar threw something at her. She dodged it, but realised it was a metal storage crate flying straight for their friends. Kara altered course and caught it, throwing it right back at the villain, but he avoided being hit and the crate landed loudly, echoing around the building. She followed him by air, shooting lasers at him, but he was fast enough to dodge most of them. An arrow appeared in front of them and Barry launched it forwards at Savitar. It exploded against him and he faltered, but he just kept running: attacking and speeding away over and over again.

She changed tack, twisting up through the ceiling and then throwing herself down towards the wall where she knew Savitar would be. She collided with him and they barrelled back through the concrete, landing in another section of the building. They broke apart and he bounced across the ground, somehow landing on his feet and running back into action. He kicked her, hard, and she flew back through the hole in the wall and crashed through a line of soldiers. She landed on the other side, and when she looked up, Queen Rhea was standing over her triumphantly, kryptonite sword in hand.

* * *

The second Barry had seen Savitar, he'd leapt into action. He saw Wally and Kara following suit, but he barely registered it, so intent on revenge was he. Revenge for something that hadn't happened yet: for something he wouldn't let happen. Savitar struck, hitting him back and he skidded against the floor, but it didn't slow him down much, not with Wally there to grip his arm and pull him forward. Kara's lasers nearly grazed him and he spun out of the way, deftly avoiding both them and another of Savitar's attacks.

An arrow moved toward him and he grinned, "Thanks Oliver." He lifted it from the air and threw it further, accelerating it into Savitar's shoulder. The villain slowed slightly, which gave Kara enough time to gather herself, and before he could object, she'd smashed Savitar through the wall. Wally followed, and one of Cisco's portals appeared. He hurled himself through it, temporarily disappearing, and Barry sidestepped it and sped through the hole, but he wasn't quick enough to stop Kara from being kicked back through, and he dove out of the way of the woman of steel as she tore through the air. Wally appeared behind Savitar, and the portal blinked out of existence as he punched him hard enough to push him back toward Barry. Barry followed it up from his side with a few hits of his own, and they continued that way, locked in a battle of speed and rage.

* * *

Wally looked at Cisco and both men nodded. He took off running after Barry and Cisco took up position next to Felicity, Winn and Julian – he would fend off whatever came near them. In the meantime, he could help from where he was. While the other tech geeks helped in earpieces, he opened up a portal next to Mon-El, who ran through it and fell out of a new one in the ceiling, taking down six of Rhea's men in a flurry of movement. A stray solider broke away from the group and ran towards them.

"Um Cisco? Uh… there's a guy!" Winn yelled nervously and Cisco smiled.

"Yeah. I got him." He opened a portal right in front of the man and he vanished into it.

"Where did he go?" Felicity asked, and then very suddenly, "Oliver to your left!"

"He's riiiight…" A portal appeared by the supporting posts and the man charged through them and smacked headfirst into a pole and slid to the floor, unconscious, "There."

"Nice!" Winn said, then, "No, not you James. I mean, yes! You! But also, Cisco."

Cisco looked up to see familiar blurs and then concrete exploded outwards and four blurs became two. He opened a portal in front of Wally and then they became one. Barry ducked as Kara flew backwards, smashing her way across the warehouse painfully and landing hard against a metal support.

He shook his head, "I'm sure she's got it handled," and spun back to the battle. Rene and Curtis were backed into a corner, a cluster of sentries bearing down on them. He opened a portal behind them and they stepped through it, rematerializing on the other side, forcing the soldiers into the corner they'd just been trapped in.

* * *

Rene, Curtis and Diggle had started out together, but in the melee they'd gotten separated.

Rene ducked under the swing of a staff and moved backwards out of its way. Another solider turned on him and he was forced back another step. He became dimly aware of someone to his right and realised that both he and Curtis were being backed into a corner.

They fought back, parrying and thrusting and kicking and shooting, but they were no match for the superior strength and technology of their opponents. Just when he'd given up hope of succeeding, a portal appeared behind them and Curtis dragged him through. They materialized on the other side of the guards and suddenly they had the upper hand, forcing them into the corner they'd just escaped.

* * *

Oliver's instincts were the sharpest of the group, so he was the first to move, but he wasn't even close to the fastest, so despite his rapid response, Barry, Wally, Kara and Mon-El were way ahead of him. His hands touched an arrow as Barry launched himself at Savitar. He pulled it from the quiver as Wally and Kara followed. The arrow was perched on the now and aimed by the time Mon-El had reached the first guard. He glanced to his left – Felicity was safe. He checked his right – everyone was moving as one against the army which had risen in force at the appearance of Savitar. Queen Rhea had slunk away, disappearing into the wings of the warehouse, but she wasn't gone; he could see her there, observing the carnage she had helped created. He would get to her later. He took out three guards with carefully placed arrows, but more just pulled up to replace them. The speedsters were trailing their usual lightshows across the walls and ceiling and he zeroed in on a red streak that could only be Barry.

He shot an arrow towards where he knew the scarlet speedster would be and Barry caught it deftly, flinging it forwards into Savitar where it exploded against his back. The hulking metal man was barely fazed, however, and the running battle continued.

Oliver had already turned his attention back to the battle at hand, and five more arrows landed themselves in guards' arms, legs and shoulders. Something blasted a nearby guard into the one ahead of him and he looked over to see Alex Danvers with a massive grin on her face, gun in hand.

One by one, inch by inch, they were taking them down. Mon-El crashed down beside him from overhead, taking down another six. Kara sailed backwards through the air in front of them and Mon-El moved as if to follow her, but there were too many guards and he was already weak. He faltered slightly and Oliver pulled an arrow but Felicity yelled in his ear, "Oliver to your left!" And he saw James Olsen go down under a sharp blow.

Guardian needed his help more; he was on the ground, surrounded, and Oliver changed targets, pulling up and hitting one. The man went down, giving James enough time to get the upper hand and push upwards through their weight. He was back on his feet but still outnumbered and using his shield to deflect the dangerous shots from their guns. Oliver jumped forward, kicking one down and taking his staff. He and Guardian stood side by side, and soon Diggle was behind them, all three facing outwards towards their foes.

* * *

Diggle rolled his eyes, "Aliens, psychopaths and Superspeedsters – almost makes me wish for Malcolm Merlyn again." He slammed his fist into the nearest enemy and he dropped like a stone. he punched and shot his way through the mob, ducking and weaving to avoid gunfire and swinging rods crackling with some kind of electricity.

Some soldiers clattered unceremoniously to the ground in front of him and he looked up to see Mon-El shaking himself off. Something hit Diggle from the side and he went down. A group of soldiers bore down on him and he couldn't get out from under them. He braced himself for the inevitable death blow, but it never came, because Supergirl was thrown backwards and smashed into the line of guards in front of him and all of them went down as one. He stood uncertainly and saw Oliver leaping to Guardian's aid. He carved a path through the army and arrived at his friends, adopting the back flank and taking position.

* * *

"Duck! Shield! 3 o'clock!" Winn's voice tinned sharply in his ear and James smacked the end of his shield into the combatant to his 5 o'clock.

"That's my five o'clock!"

"It wasn't when I yelled, when I yelled it was your 3!"

"Fair enough," He deflected the blast of a gun and took a knee behind his shield, "How do I defeat these guys? It's hard enough just defending myself from these alien weapons!"

"Julian says go for the legs."

"Why don't you put Julian on the comms," James joked and kicked out at the nearest shin.

"Very funny, why don't _you_ – Oh! Nice!"

"What?"

"No, not you James. I mean, yes! You! But also, Cisco."

"Right. Any help here?"

"Uh, yeah, don't get hit with those laser blasts."

"Great," James tried not to roll his eyes in the middle of battle, "Anything _helpful_?"

"8 o'clock!" Winn said sharply, but the staff had already hit James in the knee and he dropped to all fours, "I think Rhea's soldiers took Julian's advice."

"Yes, _thank you_ Winn." He said, tugging his shield down on top of him to lessen the blows. He was taking a licking from the aliens, until one of them slumped onto him with an arrow in his side. He used their surprise to push back and stood up, but there were still too many, and Oliver emerged at his side, shooting arrows into the mob.

* * *

Alex was shooting her alien gun at anything that moved and trying very hard to avoid hitting their friends. She kept looking up to find Kara, but they were moving too quickly to get any idea of what was going on.

"Alex, on your 2!"

She leapt sideways, avoiding the laser blast and landing heavily on her shoulder. J'onn flew across, taking out the man who shot at her and she stood up, out of breath.

"Thanks!"

"No problem. Where's Mon-El?"

They both stared at where he'd just been, but he had vanished, "I don't know. He was just there!"

Without warning, Mon-El fell purposefully through a portal onto a group of guards in behind the two of them and Alex flinched as yet another sentry ran at her. She dove out of the way and rolled up, defending herself from the accompanying blow. J'onn kept phasing in and out, avoiding laser blasts and flying down to punch people. Mon-El stood up and nodded at them both, exhaustion on his face, and in his brief distracted state, one of the soldiers got the upper hand and caught him off guard. Alex moved to help but J'onn was hit with a stray round and she turned and shot into the crowd.

* * *

Mon-El supersped towards his mother, but she let herself be protected, seemingly evaporating into the horde of soldiers, and he almost immediately went from offensive to defensive. The men weren't pulling their punches, and despite his notable advantages, he was tired and weakening.

He felt Kara, Barry and Wally superspeed in the opposite direction and watched as Oliver shot with expert precision into the mass of soldiers. He noticed a group of men sneaking up behind J'onn and Alex and he ran in their direction. A glowing purple oval, the kind he recognised, came into being in front of him and he sped up. Then he was falling, and he landed heavily on top of four men, taking them out immediately. He had landed on his injured side and he felt the pain spreading to his fingertips, but stood up and beat down the remaining two men. Alex glanced back and nodded at him in thanks and he slowly stood up, trying not to collapse or throw up, and nodded back. Something smacked him against the wall and he dropped back to his knees. He looked up and saw Kara flying through the air. She skidded across the floor and only stopped when she hit a metal support. In front of his mother.

"You have got to be kidding me." He said bitterly, and in his distracted agitation, the guard hit him again.

* * *

Kara felt her energy dissipating. The sword in front of her ebbed and glowed and she struggled to rise.

"Save your energy Kryptonian. I wouldn't want to have to kill you _now_ when my son isn't paying attention." Rhea gestured at the battle behind them and held her sword to Kara's throat.

Kara saw Mon-El shoved violently into the wall. He reared up shakily and fought off the man but a second soldier came up behind him and hit him brutally in the side. Mon-El ended up on all fours and when he looked up, the first thing he saw was her.

"You've got to be kidding me." She heard him say and she nearly laughed. Oliver saw her and pulled an arrow, but she shook her head.

"Help Mon-El!"

"I'm fine," Mon-El choked slightly, spitting out a mouthful of blood, "help her!"

"No, I'm okay, Oliver, help him!"

Oliver squinted briefly between them but very quickly made his decision and one of the guards on top of Mon-El suddenly had an arrow in his abdomen. He ran over and kicked the other into the wall and helped Mon-El up while defending them both against another group of guards.

"Why me? Why not her?" Mon-El wheezed.

"Because I don't particularly feel like dying today. And if something happens to you, Kara will kill me."

"Was that a joke?" Mon-El asked curiously – in the few hours he'd known Oliver Queen, he didn't learn much about the man, but he did know that he wasn't exactly a comedian.

"Partly," Oliver acknowledged and both of them jumped towards Kara, but Rhea tutted at them.

"Ah, ah, ah, I don't think so!" She said, "If you two take one more step, I will cut off your girlfriend's head."

Kara realised something and tried to ignore the sharp glowing green at her throat, "You said the prince wasn't worthy of being admired. You said that if you found out your Dad was alive that you would run, because he wasn't a good man. I'm sorry Mon-El I should have noticed, I should have..."

"It's fine, Kara, I don't blame you for hating me, I lied for months," Mon-El said, raising his hands in surrender to his mother, but he refused to take his eyes off Supergirl.

"No, that's just it, I don't hate you–" She was cut off by a warning jab with the sword and she closed her mouth. Mon-El froze, worried his half-step forward had been noticed, but his mother was just angry.

"Enough, Kryptonian." Rhea said coldly.

"What do you want, Mother?" Mon-El asked.

"Come home."

"This is my home." Mon-El said and supersped forward. Rhea reacted, pulling the sword back to lodge it into Kara's jugular, but it didn't get there.

The sword didn't make it into Kara at all. Rhea realised too late to pull back that she'd made a mistake, but the damage was done. The blade surged forward and Mon-El shoved Kara out of the way. She hit the floor as the knife plunged in his direction and he stayed where he was.

He looked down at himself, down at the weapon that now found itself buried in his chest and found he had no regrets. Rhea screamed, the sound of a mother, of someone who knew they'd made a mistake, of a murderer.

The entire battle slowed until everyone except for Barry, Wally and Savitar, who were nowhere to be found, stopped and watched the tragedy taking place.

"Mon-El?" Kara's voice was barely audible, smaller than he'd ever heard it, and then she picked herself up off the floor and saw what he'd done, "MON-EL!?"


	8. Breathing's Just a Rhythm

_I'm so sorry guys, I know, I am incredibly cruel! But I promise, things will improve, please don't give up on our space puppies yet! Thank you all so much for the support and the reviews, I adore you all so much._

 _Love, Talis xxx_

* * *

 _ **Oh everyone takes turns**_  
 _ **Now it's yours to play the part**_  
 _ **And they're sitting all around you**_  
 _ **Holding copies of your chart**_  
 _ **And the misery inside their eyes**_  
 _ **Is synchronized and reflected into yours**_

 _ **Hold on**_  
 _ **One more time with feeling**_  
 _ **Try it again**_  
 _ **Breathing's just a rhythm**_  
 _ **Say it in your mind**_  
 _ **Until you know that the words are right**_  
 _ **This is why we fight...**_

 _Regina Spektor_

* * *

Rhea fell to her knees and her hands raked down her face; this had not been her objective, she had never intended to kill her son. If he had opted to die rather than return to Daxam, that would have been his choice, but never in a million years would she have been able to deal the final blow herself.

And yet here she was.

And she had stabbed her son.

And she couldn't believe what she'd done.

She sunk to the floor in silent shock and wept dismal tears.

Kara screamed his name so loudly and with so much pain in her voice that the entire battle ceased around them as everyone turned to look.

Alex and J'onn rushed forward, but hung back slightly when they saw the state of Mon-El – both of them had been soldiers long enough to know when someone was a lost cause. So, they stood back to let Kara say goodbye.

"Oh Mon-El," Alex said quietly, and J'onn pulled her into a hug.

"Oh my god, what happened?!" Felicity's voice echoed in Oliver's ear, but he didn't respond, and within seconds a portal had opened beside him. Felicity, Julian, Winn and Cisco tumbled through it, "Oh no," Felicity brought both hands up to cover her mouth and Winn leant on Julian for support. Cisco said something into the comms, but no-one heard it.

Guardian and Diggle pushed their way through the crowd and Rene and Curtis followed. James saw the scene before them and looked away, unable to bring himself any closer.

Kara finally seemed to find her feet, and stood up, burning rage in her eyes, and they started to smoulder angrily. She moved towards not Mon-El, but his mother, and Oliver, J'onn and Alex moved as one. They gripped her, held her back as she writhed against them, screaming and yanking, and they weren't nearly enough to hold her, even this close to Kryptonite. Cisco said something else into the link, but everyone was now worried about Kara committing murder, so no-one noticed when he backed away slightly.

Alex moved in front of her, "Kara, think about this."

"No, no she's dead. I'm going to kill her." Kara hissed through gritted teeth, tears pouring down her cheeks like she'd been standing in torrential rains.

"No, Kara, listen, think about Mon-El – he needs you right now, and killing his mother is going to take up any seconds you might have with him."

Kara yanked herself free of the men and Oliver joined Alex, "Kara, I know what you're going through – I've lost so many people and I've killed the people who killed them, and it doesn't help, I promise you. It doesn't make it better."

"We are _not_ the same, Oliver Queen!" Kara snapped.

"No, we're not – you're better than me, Kara, you've got more heart than anyone I know. Don't do this. You'll never forgive yourself."

"I've lost EVERYTHING! My family, my planet, my foster father, everything I care about I lose! I can't lose him! I can't let her take him away from me!" Kara screamed, but now James and Diggle were standing between her and revenge as well, and the Kryptonite was weakening her too much to fly over them. Cisco opened up a portal and grabbed Winn's arm, and both of them disappeared from sight.

"Kara, don't. I won't let you become that person, not for me." Mon-El said, and the group parted so she could see him. He was on his knees, green blade protruding from his chest, and when she saw him pushing himself up to talk to her, she broke down completely. All the fight left her and she collapsed onto Oliver's shoulders, weeping hysterically, unable to bring herself to look back at her boyfriend. Oliver instantly switched from a defensive pose to a friend, holding her up and stroking her shoulder gently.

Queen Rhea dragged herself forward and everyone's guards went up, all of them raising their weapons in her direction, but she wasn't attacking.

"Mon-El. My son… I'm so sorry." She bawled, touching his arm.

"Don't." Mon-El said tiredly.

"I know, I know, I'm sorry my son, I never meant for _you_ –"

"No, you just wanted to kill the woman I love." Mon-El was fading, his skin turning a sickly shade of grey.

"If the Kryptonian hadn't–"

"Her name is _Kara_. And she never did _anything_ to you." His breathing was becoming tighter and his lungs were starting to fill with fluid.

"It was her – if she hadn't poisoned your mind against us–"

"I still wouldn't have gone back with you. I hated that life, hated you both so much." He wavered on his haunches and fell onto his side, barely avoiding shoving the sword in further.

"That's a lie." His mother's tone hardened.

He reached up and wrapped his fingers around the hilt of the sword that was buried in his chest. With a few moments to steel himself, he swiftly yanked the knife from his body and dropped it at his side, which only made Kara sob harder as his injuries became more apparent. Rhea heard Kara's crying and remembered why she'd come to this earth in the first place – to kill the Kryptonian. Mon-El took a shuddering breath and he saw her glance behind him and reach into her cloak for something. She shook her grief for her son off and glared up at the woman who she saw as the source of all her problems.

"This is _her_ fault." Rhea spat. She moved, a small green shard of something in her hand and Kara reacted instinctively, but Mon-El was faster.

"NO!" He bellowed, and reached downwards. He gripped the sword and thrust it upwards before she could get past him, and it lodged itself firmly in her throat. She looked surprised, blinking down at him.

"You're not hurting her." Mon-El murmured, and yanked the sword back. It clattered unceremoniously between them and Rhea began to choke, her hands vainly clawing at her neck, trying to close the wound.

"Son…" She tried, betrayal in her eyes.

"I am no son of yours." Mon-El muttered, and then he collapsed backwards.

"MON-EL!" Kara's voice tore through the air and she was on her feet and by his side before he managed to hit the floor. She caught him as he landed and he smiled at her.

"Sorry." He said softly.

"Mon-El…" Kara repeated, tears splashing onto his face and arms.

He took a shallow, shuddering breath, "She was going to kill you."

"You should have let her." Kara cried, and Mon-El would have done anything to make her smile again.

"You look like a tree." He whispered.

"Mon-El, what did you do?" She was crying hysterically and every phrase was punctuated by huge wracking sobs, "Mon-El what… what… Why did you… I can't… Please…"

"I'm okay." Mon-El said softly, despite being able to feel his blood gushing in places where it shouldn't be, "I'm okay, Kara, it's okay, everything's gonna be okay."

"Mon-El," His name tied itself into a knot in her mouth and she found she was unable to speak as she gripped the fading body of the man she loved. Her lips moved but no sound came out; her tears had overtaken her, and she pulled him closer, crying into his neck.

Kara…" He smiled as her name played about his lips. His heartbeat was slowing, drifting away.

"No, no, Mon-El!" She gripped him tighter, as if that would make everything go away, and he couldn't stand to see her so upset.

"It's okay. I was no good for you anyway – selfish and stubborn. I never listened." He tried, but she shook her head vehemently.

"Don't say things like that, don't you dare."

"Why not?"

"Because you're dying and you're trying to make me feel better. Tell me that you're a terrible boyfriend later."

He chuckled; that conversation with Kara on Rhea's ship seemed like an eternity ago, but it was barely 48 hours. He wished he could fix it, but he knew he had to tell her the truth, "I'm not going to get a later, Kara."

"Yes, you are!" Kara moaned.

"No, I'm not. And that's okay. You'll be fine."

"No, please, please, you're not gonna die, we can fix this." She broke down, her eyes closing against the reality of what was happening. She couldn't breathe and her sobs were starting to sound more like screams and she buried her face into Mon-El's neck again.

"Kara…" He tried, but she wasn't listening, she was so angry with him and upset and heartbroken and panicked and he tried again, "Kara? Kara."

"Kara," Oliver said loudly, and she snapped out of it slightly, enough to open her eyes. She came face to face with the man she loved, and he smiled at her lovingly, instantly more relaxed at the sight of her big blue eyes.

"Comets," He sighed.

"Mon-El…" Kara wept, unable to think of anything except his name.

"I love you… so much… Kara…" He breathed, and when his last breath whooshed from his lips, Kara's face crumpled and she rocked back and forth with him in her arms.

"No… no… Mon-El… I love you. I love you Mon-El, please! Please… please…" She couldn't breathe, everything was too much, the room was spinning and closing in on her. She couldn't breathe, she couldn't move, she couldn't see through her swollen eyelids, she couldn't hear anything except the absence of Mon-El's usually deafening heartbeat. The silence was suffocating and she cried into his hair. She didn't know how much time had passed, it could have been years or microseconds, but she couldn't care less. She would stay there holding him for eternity if she had to.

Without warning, or maybe there had been warning, she didn't know, someone grabbed her and plied her away and she turned and buried her face into their shoulder. It was Alex. They sat there on the cold floor and Alex stroked her back gently, "I really hope this works."

Kara blinked and shook her head slightly, "What works?"

* * *

Barry, Wally and Savitar were running around the city, chasing each other across streets and up the sides of buildings, when the sounds of screaming came through the comms.

"Ah, what the hell is going on?" Barry shrieked, veering off course slightly.

"I dunno!" Wally yelled back, and then Cisco's voice came in through their ears.

"Mon-El's mother tried to kill Kara with Kryptonite, but he got in the way."

"What?!" Barry's heart dropped into his shoes.

"Is he okay?" Wally asked, dreading the answer.

"No. He's dying."

"Do you need us to come back?"

There was a very long pause, and they kept running, waiting for someone, anyone to give them a sign.

"Where are you?" Cisco returned.

"56th and Boulevard, why?"

"We'll get Savitar another day," Cisco said determinedly, "I've got an idea."

A portal appeared in front of them and they ran through it without question, glimpsing Savitar fading into the distance beyond it as they emerged somewhere completely different. They screeched to a halt and looked around. The room was dark, but still light enough to see their surroundings. There was a pulsing green light that could only be kryptonite lodged into a wall, and a metal wall nearby was covered in futuristic flashing lights.

"Where are we?" Wally asked.

"On Queen Rhea's ship," Winn's voice echoed around them, seemingly coming from everywhere.

"Um, okay that's scary, Winn, where are you?" Barry asked.

"I'm behind you, dude." Winn's voice returned to normal and both of them spun in shock to find Winn and Cisco standing by a corridor, looking grim.

"How did you do that?" Wally asked.

"What do you mean? Oh, how did I go all _Wizard of Oz_ on you? I'm tapped into the mainframe. Which means, if we are very, very lucky…" He flicked something on his tablet and all the lights dimmed and flashed twice before settling back to normal.

"Then, what? We get a cool light show?" Wally raised an eyebrow.

"No… hang on… I found it! You two, stay on the comms, and go down that corridor!" Winn pointed and they both sped into action immediately, no questions asked, "Wally, go left, Barry keep straight."

Wally tore away and Barry increased his speed until Winn told him to stop and turn left twice. He did so and found himself in what appeared to be a medical bay, "Okay, what am I looking for here Winn?"

Immediately every light in the room went out except for a small drawer to the right of one of the hospital beds, "Grab everything in there and get back to us," Cisco commanded. Barry did as he was told, yanking the drawer from its runners and sprinting back to the hold. Wally returned not a second later with something mechanic and unmistakeably alien in each hand.

Cisco opened a portal, "We need to move, now!"

They all leapt through, leaving the silent spaceship behind and arriving to an eardrum-piercing cry.

* * *

Cisco grabbed the drawer as they landed and yanked a massive syringe out of it, ripping off the plastic seal and throwing it behind him. Everyone looked up, and Wally and Barry instantly realised just how bad things were. Rhea was dead, growing cold on the ground, and the group had surrounded Kara, who was clutching Mon-El's nearly lifeless body. Felicity was gripping onto Oliver and James was leaning on J'onn. Rene and Curtis had faced outwards in an attempt to keep the soldiers at bay, but not one of them had moved an inch since the Queen had hit the floor. Alex looked up at them.

"Get her off him," Cisco ordered, giant syringe in hand.

"What are you going to do to him?" Alex asked nervously.

"Nothing that will make him any _more_ dead." Cisco said pointedly and Alex gave in and knelt down by Kara, pulling her gently away. She didn't put up much resistance, and Alex hugged her sister tight.

Cisco moved forward and slammed the syringe down, brutally, into Mon-El's wound. The solution inside, which had been colourless, flickered purple as it entered Mon-El's chest. The liquid flowed downwards through his veins, making its own way, as there was no heartbeat to move it by force. He stepped back and dropped the empty needle. There was a long pause.

"Did it work?" Winn asked hesitantly.

"That depends, does he look very alive right now?" Cisco snapped.

"Not really." Winn sounded on the verge of tears.

"Then I don't think it worked." Cisco said, a huge lump in his throat. First his brother, then Caitlin, now Mon-El – everyone just kept dying. Not that Caitlin was dead anymore, but she may as well have been.

The tiniest glimmer of hope they'd brought with them through the portal sputtered and died, and their hearts sunk. Aside from Kara, J'onn was the most affected, and he considered shutting off his abilities, but he felt that wouldn't help. Oliver held Felicity as she cried and Diggle fingered his phone in his pocket: he'd never wanted to call Lyla so much in his life. Julian felt an ache in his chest for Caitlin and Alex wished that Eliza and Maggie had come through with them, because they would know what to do – between them, they always knew what to do. James clapped Winn on the shoulder and Winn whimpered slightly, but tried to keep his composure. Wally and Barry were both thinking about Savitar, about Iris, and about their fallen comrade, but Barry was also pained by the agony of his super friend, who had just lost the man she loved.

They stood in mourning that way for five long minutes, unable to decide what to do, and just as Barry opened his mouth to rally them together, Mon-El's body began to glow purple.


	9. Breathe

_**Cause you're the one thing I believe in**_  
 _ **When I lose faith in all I do**_  
 _ **This paradise comes when I close my eyes**_  
 _ **It's true, in the darkness I see you**_

 _ **Breathe**_  
 _ **Don't you let that heart beat fall**_  
 _ **No matter how far it goes**_  
 _ **You'll always be where I belong**_

 _ **And I get a feeling when you're near me**_  
 _ **Yeah I get a craving when you go**_  
 _ **And getting clean was never easy**_  
 _ **When the side affects all start to show**_

 _ **I have to breathe**_  
 _ **I never held a heart before**_  
 _ **No matter how far I'm thrown**_  
 _ **You'll always be where I belong**_

 _Seafret_

* * *

Mon-El's veins were radiating, and the gleaming light was spreading slowly across his whole body. Within seconds it had reached his fingertips and the top of his head, and purple appeared even through the thick material of his shoes.

The glow, which had started out barely visible, like the dying embers of a fire, became brighter and brighter, until the whole warehouse was lit up in electric purple. Kara released her sister and scrambled forward on all fours, praying for a miracle, for _anything_ to happen.

There was a moment of heavy silence, in which everyone waited with baited breath, leaning forward anxiously. The tension was almost a visible entity, and it only broke when the light exploded outwards with incredible force. Everyone was thrown backwards – heroes hitting soldiers, soldiers hitting soldiers, heroes hitting heroes. They all went down in the flash of blinding violet light. They shielded their eyes against it, but even covered, the light filled up every crevice of their vision, and for the longest minute, purple was everywhere. Then, abruptly, it vanished without a trace.

Kara collected herself and opened her eyes, barely daring to hope. Everyone else still seemed a little out of it, so she was, predictably, the first to recover. Across the warehouse, Mon-El was still lying there, motionless and lifeless as he had been before. She rocketed forward and slipped slightly on the smooth floor, landing harder than she intended next to him. His chest had healed, and the pool of blood he'd been lying in had vanished. She couldn't hear a heartbeat, and his chest wasn't moving, but surely the glowing veins had meant _something._

She tilted closer, but she was too afraid to get any nearer, too afraid to hold his lifeless body again in case it didn't move. She hovered on her hands and knees a foot away, searching his face for some movement, some sign that he was alive.

"Mon-El?" She begged softly.

Suddenly, Mon-El sat bolt upright and gasped in huge gulps of air, "I am SO SICK OF GETTING STABBED TODAY!" He bellowed, winded and sore.

He barely had a second to get his bearings, however, because Kara threw herself at him with great force and he fell right back down again.

"THANK RAO!" She was on top of him, gripping his shoulders painfully and she looked him over to check that he was alright. Then she smacked his arm, "What the HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU! I hate you!"

"Sorry." He mumbled, but she didn't seem to care, she appeared only to want to yell at him.

"Why didn't you tell me you still had lead in your system! If you'd just told us we might have caught it earlier and you might not have died! You DIED!"

"I know, I know, I'm sorry…"

"God, I hate you so much," Kara growled furiously, and he opened his mouth to apologise again, but she disregarded her anger instantly and kissed him. When their lips touched, Mon-El instinctively pulled her down on top of him properly, and he'd never been so happy to kiss her in his life. She gripped his face with both hands, as she often did, but there was something more desperate about it this time, more tangible. His arms wrapped around her tightly and his fingers tangled in her hair. She kissed him harder and he relished the feeling of his lips on hers, the familiar weight of her body on his, the grip of her fingers on his cheek. She shifted slightly and he sat up, adjusting her on his lap and she broke the kiss, pressing her forehead to his.

"Hi." He breathed.

"Hi." She said back, tears glistening in her eyes, "Don't ever do that again."

"I promise."

"You were _dead_ Mon-El. Not sick, not dying… just dead. You were gone and I thought I was never going to get you back." Some of the tears spilled over her lashes and he brushed them away gently.

"I'm sorry. I never wanted to put you through that."

"Stop apologising!" Kara joked, but it was a laugh of panic and tension and he felt guilt settle uncomfortably in his stomach.

"I'll never stop apologising to you, Kara." Mon-El sighed, kissing her cheek, "For as long as I live, I'm always going to want to be better than I was before I met you."

Kara shook her head, her voice more strained, "Stop it, don't… I…" She trailed off, words catching in her throat.

"Hey, it's okay… I'm okay. I'm right here."

"I know, I just…"

"What?" Mon-El looked at her, concerned, and she couldn't have contained the words anymore if she tried.

"I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry." She exclaimed.

"For what, you didn't do anything?"

"Exactly, I didn't do anything! I made you think that I don't… want you in my life, that I'm always disappointed in you, and it's not true."

"Kara, if you keep being annoyed at me for the rest of my life, I'm fine with it, as long as I'm _in_ your life."

"No, but…"

"What's wrong?" He stroked her lips with his thumb and she held her breath.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I made you feel that way, and I'm sorry… I'm so, _so, sorry_ that I didn't say it before you died. But I'm saying it now." She said hesitantly, and he nodded, not wanting to interrupt. The silence between them was heavy with expectation, and even though Mon-El knew what was coming, he could barely let himself blink. Finally, Kara broke the silence with the only words that could have made him happier than he already was, alive with her in his arms.

" _I love you, so much…_ I love you, Mon-El." She breathed and he felt one of the smiles that he saved for Kara's cute faces playing across his lips. Kara searched his eyes and his heart started thumping erratically against his rib cage, betraying his elation. She could feel it through her suit: Mon-El's heart back to its usually deafening regularity, and she closed her eyes and focussed on it, committing it to memory.

"Well, I mean, you're okay… I guess…" Mon-El murmured teasingly, and she was about to open her eyes and tell him off, but he kissed her and she forgot her own name.

* * *

In the meantime, across the abandoned warehouse, their friends had been dusting themselves off when Mon-El sat bolt upright and yelled. Barry held out an arm to Oliver and yanked him up and both of them clapped each other on the back, glancing over at their friends, but by this point, Kara was punching her boyfriend's arm, and they began to help everyone else to their feet.

"I'm sorry about Savitar," Oliver said.

"We'll get him." Barry said confidently, "I've got you guys, and we've got a few more weeks to stop him yet. We'll get him."

"Yeah buddy, we will." Oliver agreed, offering an arm to Alex. They turned as one, only to see Kara and Mon-El locked in a passionate embrace, "You know, maybe we should focus on taking out all of these soldiers."

"Good idea," Alex said, grinning from ear to ear.

"Uh, actually, Winn and I have that covered." Cisco said triumphantly.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, when we were on Rhea's ship, Barry went for the antidote, and Wally went to get us these," Cisco held up two remotes.

"And what are they?" Rene asked suspiciously.

"Oh my god, is that more alien tech?" Curtis started fangirling.

"Oh my god Curtis, be cool, this isn't our first rodeo," Cisco feigned embarrassment, "And yes, it is. In Winn's hand is the teleportation beam receiver for Rhea's ship, and the remote I am holding is for the torture machine she used on Kara and Mon-El."

"Right, and what are you going to do with those?" Rene asked.

"Are you aware that everything that comes out of your mouth makes it sound like you're suspicious all the time?" Cisco asked.

"Yeah?" Rene said sardonically, and Cisco squinted at him, trying to gauge whether it was a deliberate joke or not. After a brief pause, he pointed at Winn.

"Winn is going to send all of these soldiers back to the ship with no fuss whatsoever." Cisco beamed.

"I'll bite – how?" Alex frowned.

"Well, all of these soldiers have software built into their spears, or poles or whatever you want to call these things: that's how they teleported down to the DEO, and it's how they got back. That's the reason he clapped that band on Mon-El's wrist – because the beam needs to know your exact location in order to pick you up, and we didn't offer them coordinates this time."

"Okay, so what does that mean for us?"

"It means that with a little tweaking, I can send all of these guys back to the ship and then lock it up. We can get rid of them with practically no resistance."

"You would receive very little resistance anyway, friend." A voice they didn't recognise rose up from the pile of unconscious bodies, and one of the guards removed his mask and rolled his eyes.

"We are _not_ your friends, dude." Cisco said snarkily, "You've just spent the last few hours fighting us."

"Of course – it was war, and we serve Queen Rhea. But with her majesty dead, our loyalty falls to the surviving heir."

"Oh. So, wait, that means that you'll do whatever Mon-El says?"

"Within reason."

"Fighting a dying man and attacking defenceless humans seemed within reason to you?" J'onn barked.

"We were not informed of the individual capabilities of our opponents, only that they opposed Queen Rhea's rule."

"All we wanted was for you to leave us alone." Alex said.

"We know that now. We will go quietly, I swear it."

"What will you do?" She asked, curious.

"Whatever King Mon-El orders."

"Urgh, great, Mon-El's a king. This won't go to his head at all." James shook his head and Winn sniggered.

"In the meantime, I think we're still going to send you back up the ship. We really don't need you messing up this dynamic we got going here." Cisco instructed and the man nodded and saluted them all.

Winn pressed a few buttons on the remote and all of the rods started shimmering, until every soldier was fading into the sky. He shrugged, "Wow. That was surprisingly easy. That… No, but seriously, is no-one else worried that that was _way_ too easy? We are _never_ that lucky."

"I wouldn't say we've been lucky these past few days, Winn." Alex pointed out, and Winn couldn't help but agree. The memory of Kara's screams and Mon-El's fervent pleas for her to hang on came to mind, and one look at Alex and J'onn and he could see that they were reliving it too.

"And uh, the torture machine controller, what are you going to do with that?" Alex tried to shake the shrieks from her head.

"Overload it, shut it down completely." Winn said decisively, and he and Cisco got to work, while everyone else pretended not to notice the two aliens kissing on top of each other on the other side of the warehouse.

* * *

"So, King Mon-El, how are you feeling?" Alex raised her eyebrows at him suggestively and he sighed and shoved his hands in his pockets.

"We are never going to drop that, are we?"

"Oh, no, absolutely not!" Winn chortled, "I have miles of material."

"I mean, I don't have _miles_ , but I could certainly come up with something. If that's okay with you, your highness?" Barry quipped and Kara snorted.

"Well at least you're all sort of okay with it now, so I can't complain."

"Complain all you wish, my liege." Alex sniggered.

"I hate you all, _so_ much."

"Guys, be nice," Kara scolded, "We don't want him pronouncing us enemies of the kingdom!"

Everyone chuckled and he faked shock, "I cannot believe you would grass me like that! Here I was, thinking you were on my side, and this whole time you were just coming up with a joke of your own… I feel betrayed." He said matter-of-factly, and she giggled and elbowed him. He took her movement in his direction as an invitation and wrapped his arm around her waist, drawing her closer, and she made no objections.

"Well, I for one am glad you're alright." J'onn said.

" _Thank you._ " Mon-El said pointedly.

"If you had died, I would have had to hunt down Daxam's next heir, and honestly space is _huge_ …"

Everyone burst out laughing and Mon-El nodded, defeated, "Okay, okay, I concede. You all win. I'll just go kill myself now."

The group chortled, but Kara stomped on his foot, and even though there was no lead in his system, it still hurt, "Don't even joke about that."

"Kara, the only thing I _can_ do is joke about it. If I don't find it funny, I think I might curl up in a ball somewhere and never come out."

Oliver nodded, "Trust me, you do not want that. I've been there, more than once, and it took a lot to pull me out. If joking helps you deal with it, then that's what you do."

"How did _you_ deal?" Mon-El asked.

"I had good friends." Oliver said considerately, and smiled, glancing at his team.

"Ah, well then I'm SCREWED." Mon-El joked and laughter filled the space between them again.

"So, what happens now?" Wally asked.

"Uhm, I think maybe, dinner?" Barry asked the group.

"Yeah, dinner sounds good?" Oliver agreed, looking around at the faces of his friends, all of them smiling back at him jovially.

"You know what, it does sound nice, but the only time I've slept in the last three days was the 13 hours I was healing, and Mon-El has slept even less than that, so I think we'll pass. We can come visit and we'll all get dinner some other time – for Barry and Iris's wedding!" Kara said excitedly and Barry gave her a grateful smile. He was glad that she had made it sound like such a certainty, like his future with Iris wasn't in jeopardy. But then, he supposed, if you've just seen the love of your life die and then return, you have the right to be optimistic.

"You're right, Mom and Maggie will be wondering what's going on." Alex mentioned.

"And we'll have a lot to tell 'em." Winn said, in the understatement of the century.

"And I have to go and order around my army," Mon-El said casually, "because I totally have one of those now."

"Speaking of which, what are you going to do about them?" Felicity asked.

"I'll probably just send them back off into space – look for the next in line to the throne, like J'onn said."

"I was joking."

"Yes, but I don't need an army, and I have no desire to rule over Daxam. The best thing to happen to our people was to be forced out into the stars, and if there are any of us left, they should have the _choice_ of going back or staying where they are."

"That's… surprisingly wise of you." James said.

"Yeah, well, dying dramatically will do that to a person."

* * *

Cisco opened the portal as they said their goodbyes. Everyone was clapping Mon-El on the back, and Barry yanked him into a bear hug.

"You take care of Kara." He said, "And don't die."

"I'll make a note of that, thanks." He countered, and they both grinned.

Oliver walked up to Kara, "You okay?"

"I think so. We'll see." She said.

"You'll be fine, girl of steel." Oliver said, "You're stronger than me, and not just because you can snap a car in half. I wasn't lying before – you have the most heart of anyone I know, and if today was anything to go by, it's in good hands." He gestured at Mon-El and she smiled serenely.

"Are you feeling the group hug?" She asked.

"No…" He said futilely, but Barry had zoomed over and the three of them hugged it out. He relaxed enough to embrace them back, but he rolled his eyes at them as they let go, "I suppose I'll just have to get used to it."

"What, hugging?" Kara looked concerned that Oliver wasn't getting cuddled enough.

"No, your death grip." He responded.

"Yeah, you gotta watch out for that!" Winn agreed wholeheartedly, and she glared at him, but everyone who had been on the receiving end of her ambitious hugs was nodding.

Oliver shook Mon-El's hand, "You take care of yourself. And if you need someone to talk to… call Barry."

Mon-El grinned, "And if he's not available, call someone else, right?"

"No, Mon-El, if he's not available, call me. You're a good man." Oliver said seriously, and Mon-El seemed a little taken aback.

"Thanks, Oliver. If it helps, if I die, I give you my permission to date Kara."

"Hey, I heard that!" Kara retorted good-naturedly.

"Joking!" He declared, and slipped his hand into hers, "Thanks for not letting me die, guys. I really appreciate it. Next time I see you all, I really hope that there's _less_ dying involved. And that Caitlin's back, for your sake."

"You and me both, man." Cisco said, and Julian nodded in agreement.

"Bye! If you need us again…" Kara paused, "Uh, maybe just _call_ first, Barry, because I really don't like the idea of you portalling over to us without warning. Last time it was thanksgiving dinner, this time it was an argument and Mon-El telling me he loved me. Even just _any_ warning would be good, so I don't reflexively punch your face out the back of your skull."

"Whoa, you can do that?" Barry looked impressed.

"I have to make a conscious effort _not_ to do that."

"Cool." Rene, Curtis, Felicity and Cisco said as one.

"By the way, you're all knights of my kingdom," Mon-El managed to pronounce dramatically, and Kara cackled uproariously, just before they slipped through the portal and vanished into their world.


	10. I Won't Leave Your Side

_Hey guys! So we're up to the very last chapter/epilogue/whatever you want to call it. This chapter is mostly fluffy space puppies, with a little bit of angst thrown in. I hope you like it and I'm so grateful for all of you wonderful readers. And thank you so much for all of the reviews! It fills my heart with love when my phone makes that noise telling me a new one has been posted. If you have any feedback or ideas for new fics, do let me know. I love you all._

 _Talis xxxxx_

* * *

 ** _And the water is risin' quick_**  
 ** _And for years I was scared of it_**  
 ** _We can't be sure when it will subside_**  
 ** _So I won't leave your side, no I can't leave your side_**

 ** _Hey now, this is my desire_**  
 ** _Consume me like a fire, 'cause I just want something beautiful_**  
 ** _To touch me, I know that I'm in reach_**  
 ** _'Cause I am down on my knees, I'm waiting for something beautiful_**  
 ** _Oh, something beautiful_**

 ** _In a daydream, I couldn't live like this_**  
 ** _I wouldn't stop until I found something beautiful_**  
 ** _When I wake up, I know I will have_**  
 ** _No, I still won't have what I need_**

 ** _Hey now, this is my desire_**  
 ** _Consume me like a fire, 'cause I just want something beautiful_**  
 ** _To touch me, I know that I'm in reach_**  
 ** _'Cause I am down on my knees, I'm waiting for something beautiful_**  
 ** _Oh, something beautiful_**

 _NEEDTOBREATHE_

* * *

 _Kara was screaming in agony, crying out against the cold floor of Rhea's ship. Mon-El looked down at the remote in his hands, "I'm so sorry, I have to. She's making me." He turned the dial up._

 _Kara's screams rose in pitch and he shuddered, but he kept turning the dial. She writhed in anguish and he turned to his mother to beg her to let him stop… but there was nobody there – he was doing it all on his own. He looked back at the woman he loved, only to find her dead on the floor, eyes glassy, a kryptonite sword sticking out of her chest._

" _ **You**_ _killed me." Her dead mouth opened, but her voice was all wrong._

" _And me." Rhea appeared, another green knife in her chest, "This is all your fault."_

" _ **You killed me.**_ _" Kara and Rhea said as one and he shook his head frantically and smashed the remote on the floor._

" _No, I didn't, I didn't, it was you Mother, I would never hurt Kara." He felt something in his hand and the control had returned, whole and buzzing, inviting him to flick the switch. He turned the dial up to full strength and Supergirl started seizing, but he couldn't make himself turn off the machine._

" _No, Kara I'm so sorry! I'm sorry Kara… Kara!"_

* * *

"KARA!" He yelled out, thrashing, until something heavy was on top of him and had pinned his arms down.

"Mon-El, it's okay, I'm here, I'm right here, it's okay!" Kara's voice broke through the dream and he opened his eyes to find hers barely centimetres away. It was dark outside the window and the bedside lamp was on, bathing the room in gold. It was 3am, and they'd returned from Barry's Earth some time earlier – he'd only been sleeping for four hours. He took a deep breath and let his head roll back on the pillow, but she stayed where she was: her arms pinning his to the pillow and her knees either side of his hips. She regarded him carefully, concerned, "Mon-El? Are you alright?"

"Yeah, fine." He said noncommittally.

"Mon-El." She sounded more disapproving than worried now, even as she let go of his wrists and slid her fingers down his arms to his shoulders.

"I'm fine, seriously, I'm okay. I'm sorry I woke you."

"That's okay, you didn't."

He pushed himself up on his elbows, "What?"

It was her turn to look skittish, "I-it doesn't matter."

She looked away, but he was paying close attention now, and he saw the flicker of fear she was trying to hide behind her features, and that famous crinkle appeared above her nose. He sighed and pushed her hair behind her ear, "Okay."

"Okay? Okay what?"

"Okay… I lied. I'm not fine." He murmured. She glanced back up at him and extricated herself from his lap, moving over to sit cross-legged beside him.

"Really?"

"Of course I'm not fine, Kara! We just went through _hell_. I tortured you… I… you nearly died, I nearly died, we went to another universe and fought an army, and then I _did_ actually die. I don't think I'm going to be alright for a while."

"Oh thank god!" Kara exclaimed, relieved.

"Uh. What?" He looked confused and sat up, shifting to face her properly.

"I thought that it was just _me_ internally freaking out! I'm so glad I'm not alone!"

"So, when you said I didn't wake you, what you meant was…"

"That I never went to sleep," Kara admitted, "I couldn't. I tried. But _all_ I could think about was watching you die. Every time I thought I had pushed it out, I would remember again. It just keeps playing over and over and over in my head, and I can't get it out."

He reached for her hand, "Me too. The second I fell asleep, it started. I was right back in that cell, torturing you, except this time my mother wasn't there: I was doing it on my own." He hung his head in shame and she scooted closer.

"Mon-El, you _know_ it wasn't your fault."

"And then you were both there with knives in your chests… and you were saying it was all my doing. And it was, I had put them there. I'd killed you."

"That's just your guilt talking."

"Is it? Because I _did actually_ murder my mother a few hours ago."

"No, you were _protecting_ me. She had kryptonite, she was going to kill me, and you had the sword in your hand – it makes sense, no matter how horrible it feels."

"That's just it, Kara. It wasn't in my hand." He couldn't meet her eyes.

"What do you mean?" She touched his knee.

"I pulled it out of my chest and then I dropped it. I remember, it landed funny next to my leg. But then when she moved towards you, I didn't question it, I just reached for the sword and swung it. I _reached_ for it. I _meant_ to kill my mother before I'd even touched the hilt."

"Ah, Mon-El, don't." Kara said pityingly.

"Don't what?"

"Don't do this to yourself. She would have killed me, without a second thought. She _did_ kill you, because she was _trying_ to kill me. You died because of her. There's no evil in killing your mother to stop her, even if that was your intention."

"Then why does it hurt so much?" Mon-El broke down, the crushing pain of the last two days weighing down on his chest.

Kara pulled him close and wrapped her arms around him. He sobbed into her hair and she stroked his back. His fingers raked across her shoulders, trying to tug her yet closer.

"Oh, Mon-El. Mon-El, look at me." She instructed gently. He sat back and stared at her, noticed the tears in her eyes mirroring his own. She opened her mouth to continue, but she'd never seen him so broken – he was always grinning and cracking jokes: ever the optimist. Even when he found out Daxam was no more, even when he was kidnapped by CADMUS, he still managed to keep his spirit. But looking at him now, it was like all his hope was gone.

"I'm looking." He said, and she snapped out of it. He sighed, "I tortured you. I lied to you for months. I killed my own mother, Kara, how can you be in love with me? How can you even look at me? I'm a bad person. I'm a monster."

"No, that's just it, Mon-El, you're not! Do you think Rhea would have felt remorse about killing me? Do you think she felt bad for being the cause of your death, or do you think, despite delivering the blow that killed you, she still refused to take responsibility? Do you think she deliberated for more than ten minutes over the decision to kill your father? No – and that is what makes her evil. What makes you so good, what makes you different from your mother, is that you _care._ Despite everything, she was still your mother, and even if she hadn't been, you would still be beating yourself up, because you can feel _empathy._ It's what makes you _better._ You saved my life, more than once in the last 48 hours, and even if it doesn't feel like it, you made all the right choices, I 're better than her. You're one of the best people I know." Kara said softly.

He stared at her for a moment, trying to formulate a response, but his body reacted first. He leaned in and kissed her, yanking her into his lap. His hand idled up the back of her shirt, and he hummed deep in his chest at the warmth of her skin against his. She had fistfuls of his shirt in her hands and he caressed her cheek as he curled his other arm tighter around her waist. She released his shirt and brought her hands up to his face, brushing his temples as she knotted her fingers in his hair. Her palms were hot across his cheeks and he leaned into them, angling yet closer to feel the warmth of her whole body. When they finally ended the kiss, they were both out of breath, but neither of them moved an inch. Their noses were pressed against each other's cheeks, and they were a mess of tangled limbs.

* * *

When they'd arrived back, Eliza and Maggie had rushed them, demanding to know how it had gone, and Winn had disappeared to the dive bar to find Lyra. After explaining everything to their friends, and the relelvant members of the DEO, Mon-El suddenly became uncomfortable with how much attention he was getting. Random people were coming up and clapping him on the back, or nodding respectfully at him, and it made him feel weird. He'd died - he hadn't won an Oscar.

"Hey, are, are you okay?" Kara asked.

"Fine, just..." He looked at her, "Can we go home?"

She nodded, relieved, "Yes. Yeah, let's go home."

"Mon-El! A word?' Eliza called out just as Kara was dragged off by Maggie and Alex to talk about alien weapons.

"Yes, Mrs Danvers?" He said jovially.

"Look sweetie, I know you're not coping very well, and I understand how hard this has been for you, but... I just want you to remember that Kara is going through just as much."

"I know." He said.

"I know you do, but I needed to remind you. I want you to remember that you're not alone, Mon-El. You're never alone when you're on this Earth. We're a family."

"I don't have great luck with family." He noted bitterly.

"The way I see it, you didn't have a family until Kara found you... What I'm trying to say, sweetheart, is that we _all_ love you."

"Even J'onn?" Mon-El quipped.

"Even me." J'onn said from behind him, "Especially after the courage you showed today. It won't be forgotten in a hurry."

"I stabbed my mother with a sword made of the only substance that can definitely kill Supergirl, because she tried to kill her. The only reason the sword hurt my mother was because it was covered in the lead it had been exposed to while it was _in my body._ I can't think of anything _less_ courageous." He said darkly, and Eliza opened her mouth to contradict him, but Kara bounced back over.

"Ready to go home?"

"I've never been so ready for sleep in my life." Mon-El quipped, trying to shake off the uncomfortable feeling in his gut.

They walked towards the window, as as they reached the ledge, Eliza called out, "Remember what I said, Mon-El."

* * *

"I'm not complaining, but what was that about?" Kara panted.

Mon-El shook his head and kissed the corner of her mouth, "Empathy. I put myself in your shoes–"

"No, you don't get to quote Funny Face at me right now, because if you finish that line we are not going to get any sleep." She warned seductively, and he groaned into her lips.

"In that case–"

"Nope! No, we are both exhausted! We need the rest."

"Urgh, you are no fun." Mon-El pretended to sulk.

"Uh-huh." She raised an eyebrow.

"But that's why I love you – I need someone boring to balance out all my fun."

She snickered and hit him gently, but there was no heart in her objection, "I'm not _that_ boring."

"And I'm not that fun." He countered and she kissed him briefly.

"We should go back to sleep." She said.

"Back to sleep? Were either of us actually recuperating, or was it just anxiety insomnia and PTSD fever dreams?" He quipped.

"We'll sleep better this time." Kara said confidently, laying down and yanking him down next to her. He rolled over so that he was as close to her as possible, their noses grazing together.

"How do you know?"

"Because I know. And because this time I know you feel the same way. And if either of us wakes up screaming in the middle of the night again, we'll be there for each other."

"Yeah, we will." He agreed. He kissed the tip of her nose and she smiled that goofy smile of hers that he adored so much, "I love you, Kara Zor-El."

"Huh, that's weird. You only ever say my name like that when you're annoyed at me." Kara pointed out.

"I get the feeling I'm always going to be a little mad at you." He repeated something she said to him back when they first became friends, and she laughed.

"Hey, that's my line!"

"Maybe, but I feel that way too; you're so infuriating – sometimes you drive me crazy." He grinned.

"You drive me crazy too." She said, and the tone dropped again, and the looks they shared became more serious, more heavy.

"Y'know, I'd known you for three days, and I already knew I was going to be in love with you for the rest of my life. Even if you didn't feel the same way." Mon-El said.

"Oh. That… wasn't where I was expecting that to go," Kara said, "But it was nice."

"Just… promise me you'll let me keep driving you crazy? For as long as possible?" Mon-El pleaded.

Kara gave him a flash of her celestial blue eyes and he melted inside, "Only if you promise never to stop letting me lecture you."

"I couldn't stop you from doing anything if I tried." He reminded her.

"Especially not loving you." She said earnestly.

"What did you just say?" He asked, wide-eyed.

Suddenly shy, she shrunk back a little, "that I love you."

"Yeah, but… you said it all… romantic…" He waggled his eyebrows in her direction.

"Shut up."

"Oh my god, Kara Danvers, talking about her feelings?" Mon-El teased, and raised his voice to the empty apartment, "Supergirl just professed her undying love for me!"

"I wouldn't say undying," She warned, shushing him.

"You're right, I _did_ die."

"That's not what I meant."

"Oh I know what you meant, but you already said the gooey romantic thing, so I'm going to just relish this moment for a minute," he lay back and stared at the ceiling. Kara could sense his heartbeat pick up the pace slightly as he reminisced upon her words. She was glad to be even hearing his heartbeat at all, but feeling it speed up because of her was one of the loveliest sensations in the world.

"Okay, the moment has been sufficiently relished, can we go to sleep now?" She said, tired, but mostly just wanting to get closer to his heart so she could feel it thrumming against her fingertips.

"Whatever you say," Mon-El murmured, and turned the lights out. Kara snuggled into his chest and he drew the blankets around them tighter.

"Hey Mon-El?" Kara whispered.

"Yeah?"

"Who'd have thought – a boy from Daxam and a girl from Krypton…"

" _I did._ " Mon-El tucked his chin above where her head rested on his collarbone, and Kara interwove her legs with his. She smiled into his chest as it skipped a beat once more, and she was sure that even without super-hearing, Mon-El heard hers do the same.


End file.
